Australia’s eSafety has conducted research that shows the LGBTIQ+ community experiences online hate at more than double the national average in Australia. Furthermore, LGBTIQ+ people are more likely to be bullied both online and offline.
In this briefing, we look at online transphobia specifically. In our monitoring of anti-trans online hate, we’ve seen recurring themes and tropes being used against the trans community in general as well as the targeting of specific trans people.
The forms of transphobia we’ve seen often revolve around highly inflammatory and demonising claims about trans people, including allegations that being trans is a mental illness, allegations that trans women are a threat to cis-women, and allegations that trans people are sexually deviant or pedophiles. We share and deconstruct six examples from the social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Gab.
Allegations that trans people are inherently mentally ill or that being trans is a mental disorder
ACON’s digital information and resource platform TransHub explains the idea that “being trans is some form of illness” is a myth that can be traced to a long history of misunderstanding and miscategorisation. While research has shown a disproportionate number of trans people experience worse mental health than the general population, distress arises predominantly “in response to discrimination, stigma, lack of acceptance and abuse” that trans people face.
Example 1
In this example, we see the commenter in red replies to a post on X that supports the ban of gender reassignment surgery. The commenter in red, a trans woman, expresses her wish to have been able to transition at a younger age. The X user in white responds to the trans woman: “All the more reason you people should be forced into mandatory psychiatric facilities.”
The X user here uses language that “others” trans people (by referring to them as “you people”) and classifies trans people as being mentally ill. The suggestion that they be forced into psychiatric facilities also encourages excluding trans people from society.
Example 2
Another post on X unfairly and falsely portrays trans people as inherently mentally ill.
The poster in red posted two videos of a trans person who has a large following on TikTok and Instagram in an attempt to ridicule them. In the first video, the trans person is happy and expressing how much they love their work (“How it started”), and in the second video the same trans person is shown in significant distress due to potentially facing homelessness as well as dealing with ongoing medical conditions (“How it’s going”). These are both things that would have most reasonable people feeling stressed. However, the X user in white responds: “Whoever gave this mentally ill woman testosterone and mutilated her body should be locked up. Hope she gets the help she needs.”
Here we see the mental health and wellbeing of the targeted trans person being weaponised against them. Their current mental health struggles are portrayed as being solely due to the fact they are trans and taking testosterone. Furthermore, the trans person being targeted here was assigned female at birth but uses the pronouns they/them. This X user, potentially deliberately, misgenders them, thereby further attempting to delegitimise and invalidate this trans person’s identity. An additional attack is made on the trans person, with this X user describing their gender affirming surgery as “mutilation”.
Example 3
This X user reposted a Tweet that makes fun of someone who expressed their discomfort of being in the same space as a trans woman. The X user respond to the reposted Tweet by writing: “Troon supporters can’t help themselves – they hate women enough to revel in the thought of them being sexually assaulted by cross-dressing men”.
There are a number of problems with this comment. In addition to portraying trans women as sexual predators, they also refer to trans women as “cross-dressing men”, use the transphobic slur “Troon”, and alleges that supporters of trans people “hate” cisgender women.
The notion that trans women are “cross-dressing men” is a cynical one which vilifies trans women by promoting the idea that trans women only transition in order to threaten cis-women, to gain access to women’s spaces, or to benefit from the perceived “perks” of being a woman. Furthermore, the “cross dressing men” allegation also denies trans women’s identity as women.
Example 4
Another X user writes: “Democrats hate women. They want to replace women entirely with pedophile trans creatures.” Here supporters of trans rights (allegedly the Democrats in this instance), are once again portrayed as hating cis-women.
The comment continues and reads similarly to the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which accuses Jews of attempting to wipe out white European people and replace them with immigrants. Except in this version, the conspiracy revolves around the Democrats attempting to replace cis-women with trans women.
Trans people are also vilified and dehumanized by this X user by accusing them of being pedophiles and by calling them “creatures”.
Allegations that trans people are pedophiles
Following on from Example 4, another common theme of anti-trans hate is the idea that trans people are sexually deviant, “perverts” or pedophiles. The allegation that trans people are pedophiles forms part of a wider conspiracy theory that claims LGBTQI+ people are “groomers”.
In Australia, we have seen a high profile and very confronting incident of the dissemination of this conspiracy theory specifically targeting trans people. At Victoria’s Parliament in March 2023, members of the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network (NSN) showed up to support British anti-trans activist Posie Parker. Members of NSN marched on to the steps of the Parliament holding a sign that read “destroy paedo freaks” and performed the Nazi salute.
Example 5
Here we see a Facebook user respond to allegations that a trans woman sent inappropriate messages to a minor. While the allegations about this individual could be true, this Facebook user essentially holds all trans people accountable for the actions of one individual, and uses this specific incident to portray trans people as pedophiles. The Facebook user also uses the transphobic slur “Tranny”.
Example 6
In this example, a Gab user posts a video from Candace Owens, a far-right radio host who has disseminated antisemitic disinformation online. In this video, disinformation is shared about the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron. The Gab user writes: “Tranny Pedo Faggot married president of France”, most likely referring to the conspiracy theory that has circulated online that claims Brigitte Macron is transgender.
Two French women are being tried for defamation for claiming that Mrs Macron never existed and that she is actually her brother who changed gender and then assumed the identity of Brigitte. The women posted a video on YouTube in 2021 which started the rumour, and in 2022 Mrs Macron filed a complaint against them.
The Gab user claims that Brigitte Macron is a “Tranny Pedo”. Brigitte met Emmanuel Macron when he was only 15 and she was his teacher. There is no suggestion that anything illegal happened while Emmanuel was underage. However, this Gab user has used the history of Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron’s relationship to fit into the popular transphobic narrative that trans women in particular are sexual predators and pedophiles.
Conclusion
This briefing only touches the top of the iceberg when it comes to the themes and tropes in transphobic online hate. The three themes explored here attempt to vilify and delegitimise trans people, trans rights, and those who support them.
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