"But the deeper fear wasn't misinformation it was the crackdown that would follow. With fragile rights hanging by the thread of court rulings and blue-state protections, trans people braced for the worst. And they were right: The right has seized on the shooting as its own Reichstag fire, accelerating a campaign to target transgender existence now with the full weight of the Trump administration behind it."
"Kirk had been one of the right's loudest anti-LGBTQ+ crusaders, and his anti-trans rhetoric was reflected in the 2024 campaign as Trump and other Republicans leaned into hate-filled ads. Kirk's record was clear: he called for Nuremberg trials of doctors who provide gender-affirming care, branded transgender people abominations unto God, urged men to take care of trans people like they did in the '50s and '60s, and railed against high schoolers coming out as gay or bisexual as part of some LGBTQ+ agenda."
"If Republicans could pin his killing on a transgender person, they could elevate him as a martyr to justify the crackdown. And within hours, the first justification arrived. Conservative influencer Stephen Crowder claimed sources told him the bullets had transgender symbols etched onto them. The Wall Street Journal laundered the claim, only to quietly walk it back a day later after the Utah governor, Spencer Cox, read the etchings himself and confirmed none carried any such markings."
Fear spread that the far right would use Charlie Kirk's shooting to consolidate power and justify a crackdown on transgender people. Republicans and conservative influencers swiftly blamed trans people and spread false claims about bullets marked with transgender symbols, claims later debunked by investigators and state officials. Trans people feared erosion of fragile rights reliant on court rulings and blue-state protections. The right framed the shooting as a Reichstag fire to accelerate a campaign targeting transgender existence, backed by the Trump administration. Kirk's long record of anti-trans rhetoric and calls for punitive measures provided a ready pretext for escalating attacks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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