Definitions:
In this article, transgender is used as an umbrella term to describe someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not conform to those typically associated with the gender they were told they were at birth. The term trans may be used interchangeably with the term transgender. The term gender ideology is frequently debated for its lack of a coherent definition. We know the origins of the term can be traced back to an umbrella term used by the Holy See, lumping together feminism, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. The “Human Rights Watch” (HRW) states it was a “[…] reaction against the rights of women and expanding protections for sexual and gender minorities.” Today, it has become a weaponized term by conservatives and the anti-gender movement; academic Agnieszka Graff describes it as a, “great name for all that conservative Catholics despise.”
Three weeks have passed since the tragic death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Two Spirit, transgender, and gender non-conforming (2STGNC) sophomore at Owasso High School in Tulsa Oklahoma. In the aftermath, “The Rainbow Youth Project” reported a 500% increase in the number of phone calls it received in their call crisis center. According to the “National Library of Medicine,” “[…] 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.” At the time of composing this article, “Trans Legislation Tracker” has tracked 495 anti-transgender bills, proposed by GOP state legislators, across 41 states in 2024 alone. It is time for us to recognize this profound correlation and hold GOP state legislators responsible for engaging in state-sponsored terrorism.
For decades, conservatives have transformed “gender ideology” into a secular rallying cry and nationalist lexicon, blaming it as a feminist deconstruction of traditional families and social values. Initially, conservatives devoted arguments grounded in gender ideology to promote opposition and indignation against same-sex marriages. However, Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the landmark Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision to legalize same-sex marriage, caused this nationalist lexicon to focus on a new target: the transgender and non-binary community. In August 2023, “NBC News” reported on a statement made by Governor Kevin Stitt (R-OK), “[…] Today we’re taking a stand against this out-of-control gender ideology that is eroding the very foundation of our society.”
Obergefell v. Hodges obliterated nationalist conceptualizations of the “nuclear family,” or the basic social unit: a heterosexual two-parent household with their dependent children. Consequently, conservatives blamed “gender ideology” for “grooming” children, arousing a nationwide moral panic to preserve an archaic gender binary. The “Human Rights Campaign” (HRC) has quoted Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator, informing a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that, “[…] for the good of society… transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.”
Science and medical evidence contradict arguments used by conservatives to empower support for anti-transgender legislation, including bathroom bills, sports and athletic bans, and gender-marker corrections. We understand that gender is more complex than anatomical characteristics, chromosomal makeup, and the presence of testosterone. In fact, the presence of testosterone, a fundamental component of most anti-transgender legislation, is not based on endocrinological realities. Testosterone is present at fluctuating levels in all bodies.
Despite these facts, conservatives continue to ramp up legislative onslaughts against the transgender and non-binary community, specifically transgender youth; a community which according to “Pew Research,” accounts for 5.1% of adults younger than 30. “Encyclopedia.com” defines state-sponsored terrorism as, “[…] governments that conduct terrorist acts against their own citizens.” We are witnessing a genocide, a movement to deliberately and systematically destroy transgender and non-binary Americans. According to the “Tahlequah Daily Press,” Senator Tom Woods (R-OK) echoed this methodical intent in a panel discussion on February 23, 2024, stating, “[…] we are going to fight it to keep that filth out of the state.”
These public comments are a form of intellectual guerrilla warfare; employing objectification, harassment, regressive legislation, and moral panic as a means of erasure. It encourages hate and violence against a population that falls short of 2% of the total United States population.
Nex Benedict’s heinous and brutal assault by three older, female peers, comes one month after Chaya Raichik, the controversial founder of “Libs of TikTok”, was appointed to Oklahoma’s State Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee. Make no mistake, Raichik’s appointment and consequent assaults on the transgender and non-binary community are not coincidental. We are witnessing conservative engagement in state-sponsored terrorism, and they should be found complicit in hate crimes against transgender and non-binary individuals.