Trans Scapegoating in the Decline of the US War Machine
Statement by Trans Liberation Milwaukee
In the past few weeks, trans folks have been a focus for conservative talking heads. Due to a recent shooting in Minneapolis that was committed by a trans person, the debate about trans rights has intensified. Specifically, there has been significant discussion in the media and elsewhere on whether trans people should lose their rights to purchase and carry firearms. This past Wednesday, while discussing this topic, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.
As news of Charlie kirk’s assassination quickly spread, the political machine once again worked in concert with the media to scapegoat our community. False claims that the bullet was engraved with “ transgender ideology” swiftly made headlines, even in the “national paper of record”. This attempt to make it seem like the shooter was trans and shot Charlie Kirk because of their trans identity was not surprising - as this is an oft used strategy to further vilify trans people and try to justify attacks against us.
The facts are as follows:
1) The bullets were engraved, but not with anything about transness
2) The shooter was a 22 year-old white cis man
The current administration is clearly using this moment to push for stronger repression of the trans community. It must be heavily emphasized, however, that trans people are not the purveyors of gun violence in the US. The overwhelming majority of people who commit mass shootings are cisgender white men. According to the Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center on a study of mass shootings from 2016-2020, 96% of the shooters were male and 57% of them were white.
Trans people are being used as a scapegoat for the violence perpetuated by the US government and all of its oppressive tentacles. Trump's recent renaming of the 'Department of Defense' to the 'Department of War' and the continued utilization of the 'Pivot to Asia' foreign policy to ratchet tensions with China only scratch the surface of the U.S. government's imperialist intentions. Domestically, the mass deportation of over 1 million immigrants, the increased presence of federal agents and National Guard, and the rapid construction of immigration camps has shown the people of the US what the government is prioritizing.
While this all happens, the US government needs distractions for people to latch onto so it can continue its march to authoritarianism in peace. Unfortunately for the government, the people are seeing right through their distractions and are opposing these violent actions more and more every day. As long as we stand with each other and against their hatred, the fearmongering pushed by conservatives and fascists will not deter us from existing, building community, fighting for our rights, and ultimately gaining liberation.
We have always existed, we will continue to exist, and we will see a future that is determined by trans people, hand in hand with all intersectionally oppressed communities.
Now is the time to organize! Connect with your community, join organizations fighting for liberation from capitalism and imperialism, make radical art, speak out against anti-trans bills, cook meals for each other, learn to protect yourself and your friends, and anything else you can think of to make our communities stronger. We are living through history and we all play a part, no matter how big or small it may seem. Everything and everyone matters.
SOURCES
National Threat Assessment Center. (2023). Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016-2020. U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.
https://www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2023-01/usss-ntac-maps-2016-2020.pdf
News, Fight Back. “Can the Trump Administration Win Its Trade War against China?” Fight Back! News, 22 Apr. 2025, fightbacknews.org/articles/can-the-trump-administration-win-its-trade-war-against-china. Accessed 13 Sept. 2025.
“Restoring the United States Department of War.” The White House, 5 Sept. 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restoring-the-united-states-department-of-war/.
The Violence Project. “Mass Shooting Database Locations.” The Violence Project, 2024, www.theviolenceproject.org/mass-shooter-database/.
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/press-conference-no-transgender-or