Trans Community Fears Backlash With Focus On Nashville Shooter’s Gender Identity

Shortly after the deadly mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school on Monday that left 3 children and 3 adults dead, police announced the shooter was transgender. Within minutes, far-right politicians and activists began blaming the deadly incident on the suspect’s gender identity. And now, Tennessee’s trans community waits in fear. https://twitter.com/NBCOUT/status/1640857478236610563 From NBC Out:

Within 10 minutes of police saying that the suspect was transgender, the hashtag #TransTerrorism trended on Twitter.

Around the same time, Republican lawmakers — including Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — insinuated in social media posts that the shooter’s gender identity played a role in the shooting.

And by Tuesday morning, the cover of the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post read: “Transgender killer targets Christian school.”

“We are terrified for the LGBTQ community here,” Kim Spoon, a trans activist based in Knoxville, Tennessee, said. “More blood’s going to be shed, and it’s not going to be shed in a school.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had her Twitter account suspended after she repeatedly tweeted a graphic with the text, “Antifa is organizing a Trans Day of Vengeance.” Greene also tried to connect the use of hormones with the deadly shooting. Note – no one knows if the shooter was even on hormone treatment. Plus, it’s worth noting that lots of people – including pre- and menopausal women -take hormones and they don’t end up on a wild shooting spree. Read more at NBC Out. https://twitter.com/NBCOUT/status/1640905072035913728 https://twitter.com/randyslovacek/status/1640524292893884416 https://twitter.com/NBCOUT/status/1641148430645854218