Belotti said the protest was organized by TRAN and two other groups, Our Rights DC and RVA Feminism, and was organized to protect the ability of transgender people to exist openly in public. in more than a dozen states, Kentucky and West Virginia as the latest examples — to people toilet of the gender assigned at birth Ban drag performance, and limit Access to gender-affirming medical care for minors. Collectively, many local laws create a culture of hostility that limits the participation of trans people in society as a whole.
But days before the planned march, we saw terrible violence, and dangerous anti-trans rhetoric increased in its aftermath.On Monday, a 28-year-old shooter opened fire on a Christian school in Nashville.Nashville officials said Monday, the shooter transgenderHowever, BuzzFeed News has not confirmed details regarding their gender identity.
However, conservative pundits and Republican politicians quickly thrived on the story, trying to draw a connection between the shootings and violence perpetrated by the transgender community at large.
Conservatives are also expanding false accounts of the Trans Day of Vengeance protests to tie them to the Nashville shootings. report What went viral this week was a “hoaxed” tweet related to a racist 4chan meme that went viral on right-wing Twitter on Monday on a now-suspended troll account. The meme featured an image of a person holding a gun in front of a trans-his pride-his flag with the hashtag #transdayofvengeance.
On Tucker Carlson’s show after the shooting, he posted a photo of a TRAN protest poster. The Fox News host also falsely claimed that the “trans movement” was deliberately targeting Christians.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green shared TRAN’s Trans Day of Vengeance flyer on Congress’ Twitter account, claiming “Antifa” was behind the event.
After removing her post, Twitter used an automated process to remove more than 5,000 posts that used the phrase “Trans Day Of Vengeance” without considering the context in which the tweet was shared. .
“We do not support tweets that incite violence, regardless of who posted them,” said Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety. Tweet Wednesday. “‘Revenge’ does not mean peaceful protest. Organizing and supporting peaceful protest is fine.”
After news of the shooting broke on Monday, the Daily Wire published a second article on Trans Day of Vengeance, which organizers had previously raised money for firearms training and protested the same week of the Nashville shootings. I pointed out what was going on.
Belotti said the fundraiser was for an unrelated trans self-defense course for the Virginia chapter of the Trans Radical Action Network, which includes both “armed and unarmed” training.
In response to the wave of right-wing attention to the protests, TRAN statement I express my anger and sadness to the victims’ families regarding Monday’s shooting.
“We also reject any connection between that horrific event and ours,” the statement read. It is also a call to our allies to rise and fight us to defeat the forces that seek to divide and conquer us.
“TDOV was created for exactly this,” the statement added.
Belotti knows this kind of targeting well. When the Daily Wire article about the protest first appeared on March 6, the authors included Belotti’s name and information about their lives in the article.
“I also fear what the right means to avoid this,” Belotti said Wednesday, referring to the right’s lack of accountability for its fear-mongering acts. “It’s scary, but I’m so lucky to have a great community here in Virginia to call home and a national network to rely on.” It is,” they said.
Throughout his life, Belotti has dealt with numerous threats and hateful words, including advocating for trans rights and supporting drafts. Success of Virginia Legislation To protect trans students during school days.
The way the right has used the Nashville shootings to make broader false allegations about violence in the trans community is a highly novel departure from the way conservatives usually fear trans people. is, say its proponents.
“This fits into their existing narrative of presenting trans people as dangerous criminals…and it’s alarming to see them take this up to 11,” he said. Ari Drennen, LGBTQ Program Director for Media Affairs in America. Washington Post.
Drennen, whose focus is on chasing anti-trans rhetoric in right-wing media, added:
Across the Internet, trans activists, including Belotti, were quick to point out that neither the “Trans Day of Vengeance” nor the protests themselves had anything to do with promoting violence. “Revenge is about fighting these false narratives, the criminalization and eradication of trans people from public life,” Belotti said.
The name of the protest derives from its age meme Jokes within the community: The word “revenge” is used to describe the turmoil of the violence transgender people face in their daily lives.
In the United States, trans people face record numbers of deadly violence. tracker by human rights campaigns.
Just like there is Trans Day of Vengeance, there are dozens of other spinoffs. There’s an album called Trans Day of Rage Trance Day of Revenge There’s also Trans Day with Nice Snacks, a March fundraiser for Trans Mutual Aid created by the host of the podcast by punk band GLOSS reveal gender.
But this was long before the International Trans Day of Visibility, founded in 2009 by Rachel Crandall, a 63-year-old Michigan-based psychotherapist. We created this holiday as a joyful response to the Trans Day of Remembrance, which began to commemorate those who died in anti-trans violence in the 1970s.
“I wanted a day that would focus on those of us who are alive instead of focusing on the dead and give us a chance to celebrate with pride,” Crandall told BuzzFeed News. I hope one day I won’t need it. But I expect it to be around for years – and that’s a good thing.
Some strange things have happened in Tennessee in the wake of the shooting. weekend protest Canceled due to security concerns on day one of state drug ban. Belotti said after a barrage of his Twitter by right-wing accounts, TRAN organizers decided to lock his social media accounts.
“We were getting really violent threats. “It’s obviously really infuriating to have to see people claim we have blood on our hands.”
Belotti is saddened and concerned that the organization has decided to cancel the protest as a precautionary measure to keep other trans people safe, but across the country, other Trans Days of Visibility and trans・The Day of Vengeance protests will continue as planned.
“The purpose of spreading these articles is to keep people from coming,” Belotti said. “It’s about scaring people… Transgender people are under the microscope of all these alt-right think tanks and legislators, so we need all the support we can get right now.”
