Posting Through It 042: What Did Trans People Ever Do to You? feat. Gillian Branstetter
Oct 6, 2025
Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist and former National Center for Transgender Equality staffer, dives deep into the troubling rise of anti-trans rhetoric. She discusses how right-wing media uses trans individuals as scapegoats, painting them as violent extremists. Gillian highlights the chilling effects of policies on gender-affirming care and the targeted censorship of trans voices in government. With insights on the historical roots of this backlash and ways to support trans communities, this conversation offers a critical perspective on current societal challenges.
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Trans People As MAGA's Central Scapegoat
- Trans people became a concentrated scapegoat for MAGA, used to stoke fear and political mobilization.
- Right-wing media and influencers reframed trans existence as a public threat rather than a civil-rights issue.
Manufactured Extremism Narrative Around Gender
- Right-wing groups propose labeling 'gender ideology' as a violent extremist driver to justify policing trans people.
- These claims rely on distorted statistics and selective case counting to manufacture danger.
Claims Linking Trans People To Mass Shootings Fail Data
- Statistical claims tying trans people to mass shootings are numerically dishonest and misleading.
- Reliable data show transgender-perpetrated mass shootings are vanishingly rare compared with overall gun violence.
