Hate Violence

Trans Specific Dynamics

Hate-motivated crime includes the targeting of both individuals and community organizations/events for being trans or perceived/associated with trans people.

Key to understanding hate violence is the concept of stochastic terrorism, “a form of political violence instigated by hostile public rhetoric directed at a group or an individual. Unlike incitement to terrorism, stochastic terrorism is accomplished with indirect, vague or coded language, which grants the instigator plausible deniability for any associated violence.[iv]”

Multiple overlapping factors, including anti-trans legislation, bad actors spreading misinformation about trans communities, and politicians running on anti-trans platforms all contribute to this hostile public rhetoric, encouraging both small- and large-scale acts of violence against trans and nonbinary people and communities.

Hate violence against individuals

Hate violence perpetrated against trans/nonbinary individuals (or people perceived to be trans) are part of a larger pattern. Increasing instances of hate crimes are, in part, a result of coordinated efforts by conservative politicians and public figures to vilify trans and nonbinary communities and spread misinformation. This misinformation drives fear around trans youth and access to gender-affirming care, trans women’s participation in sports, trans women in public bathrooms, LGBTQ+ content in schools, and more. Overall, anti-trans rhetoric creates hostile environments for trans and nonbinary people and emboldens individuals to enact hate-motivated violence.

Some conservative speakers have even started to use the language of “eradication” about trans communities. Whether they experience direct, individual violence or not, most or all trans/nonbinary people and allies feel the growing threat of this public hostility.

Alok Vaid-Menon, gender non-conforming writer and performance artist, summarized these anti-trans efforts and their intended outcome:

“The best way to eliminate a group is to demonize them, such that their disappearance is seen as an act of justice, not discrimination.” ​(Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary)

Threats of anti-trans violence are pervasive. While most will not manifest in physical violence, they normalize endangering the lives and safety of trans and nonbinary people (especially when threats are made publicly on social media). They also contribute to pervasive feelings of fear, leading some trans/nonbinary people to avoid specific locations out of fear of violence, be hypervigilant about their surroundings, change their gender presentation to be more conforming, or even consider detransitioning.

However, even social media-based hate can lead to real-world violence. “Doxxing” and “SWATting” are used to describe forms of violence mediated by the internet and online communities, often in organized efforts to target trans and nonbinary people.

Doxxing is the distribution of private information about someone online or in other public forums. Typically, doxxing includes disclosing details such as the victim’s address, phone number, workplace, children’s schools, medical history, and/or other sensitive personal information online. The person posting this information also encourages other people to harass or harm the person they are doxing. Doxxing is considered an extreme form of cyberbullying and always has a malicious intent.

Swatting is when a false report is made to the police with the intent of luring law enforcement to a location. Typically, the false report is for something like a hostage situation or bombs at the location – reports that are intended to create a false sense of urgency and danger in order to result in a large, armed, police response, which is extremely dangerous to the victim. (Swatting comes from SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, referring to having a SWAT team called on someone.)

Doxxing and swatting both involve interfering in someone’s life and privacy, making people less safe in their homes and often leading to additional hardships such as legal or financial issues. Doxxing can enable swatting by making it easier to find a victim’s location. Swatting can lead to additional contact with law enforcement, which can be particularly dangerous for Black, brown, and disabled trans and nonbinary people, who are more likely to experience police violence.

In addition to threats of violence, trans and nonbinary people are also experiencing high rates of physical, in-person hate violence. Some of these are random attacks (perpetrated by a stranger), and others are attacks by someone close to the victim (a partner, family member, teacher, co-worker, or authority figure).

On the FORGE survey, respondents shared how instances of intimate partner violence  often intersect with hate-motivated violence:

“Experiences with violence and threats of violence were distinctly based on gender identity and expression because most, but not all, explicitly involved language that directly and indirectly connected my identity to their violent acts. ​

All instances of domestic violence from partners and ex partners had a gender identity component; it was always a factor and was plainly presented as such.” ​(FORGE, 2024)[v]

These identity-based experiences with violence are uniquely intimate and can erode a person’s sense of self.

Some trans and nonbinary people experience hate-motivated violence from service providers, law enforcement, or other authority figures. This can make it even more difficult to seek help after experiencing a crime. Another FORGE survey respondent shared:

“The assaults perpetuated by authority figures and those in positions of power over me have left the longest lasting damage.” (FORGE, 2024)[vi]

The language of hate

The hateful language on social media often repeat the same phrases over and over. Some of these, like “41%,” “Totally Tranquil Day,” or “YWNBAW,” are not obvious in their meaning, and can easily slip through content moderation that might catch more overt slurs or calls for violence.

These phrases are known as dog whistles: “a word, a phrase or some part of a communication that sounds innocuous to most people, but is also intended to convey something altogether nastier to a specific subset” (Social Workers Union).[vii] In the case of these phrases, “41%” refers to the commonly-cited statistic about the percentage of trans people that attempt suicide (often used to urge people to “join the 41%”), “Totally Tranquil Day” or “TTD” is an abbreviation for “Total Tranny/Transgender Death,” and “YWNBAW” stands for “you will never be a woman.”

Other words and phrases that have become common in anti-trans rhetoric refer to transgender people as “groomers” or “pedophiles,” playing into the idea that trans and nonbinary people are harming children by simply existing. Other hate speech suggests that trans people are delusional or crazy and should be locked up in mental health institutions. Some use the language of “ideology,” associating transness with a political agenda rather than an individual identity.

Much of this hate speech has made it not just into the everyday language of social media trolls, but also public figures and politicians. Hate Speech “becomes a human rights violation if it incites discrimination, hostility or violence towards a person or a group defined by their race, religion, ethnicity or other factors” (Rights for Peace).

This language of hate is not isolated from the real harm it causes. Erin Reed, a journalist and trans rights activist, in an interview with Marketplace, shared that:

“What we’ve seen, and what I’ve seen, is an increase in the school boards or those hospitals or those administrators that get targeted on online platforms, then receiving in real-life actual violence. I have seen a number of gender-affirming care programs at hospitals paused or shut down, because of the violent threats that people are receiving. And these threats often first show up on our online platforms through accounts like Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh, etc. This materializes into what I believe is real-world harm.”[viii]

On organizational levels, anti-trans hate speech and misinformation can lead to policy changes that put trans and nonbinary people in harm’s way. On an individual level, the normalization of online hate can embolden people to enact violence against trans and nonbinary people. This constant exposure to unrelenting hate takes a mental health toll on trans and nonbinary communities.

Hate violence targeting organizations/events

It’s not just individual trans/nonbinary people who are impacted by anti-trans hate. Organizations that support trans people, or are perceived as supporting trans people, receive hate-motivated threats and attacks. Hospitals offering gender-affirming care, such as Boston Children’s Hospital and the Oregon Health and Science University, have been targeted with bomb threats, leading to closures and contributing to fear among service providers and advocates. These threats were based on harmful misinformation about gender-affirming care and targeted social media campaigns.

Events where trans and nonbinary people find community are also affected. Armed protests and bomb threats have targeted pride celebrations and drag story time, events intended to bring communities together. Whether or not these threats are acted upon, they create fear and anxiety around existing in public as a trans person. This is their intended effect. And while events may be canceled to protect the community from violence, it also means a reduction in spaces for trans and nonbinary folks to connect with each other in person.

Mass violence

Mass violence is on the rise in the US: “Both the number of mass shooting incidents and the number of people shot in them have increased since 2015, reaching a high of 686 mass shooting incidents in 2021” (Everytown for Gun Safety).[ix]

Several mass shootings in the past decade have targeted LGBTQ+ community spaces. While motivations for these horrific events are unclear, anti-trans hate may be a motivating factor, as in the case of Anderson Lee Aldrich, who killed five people and attempted to kill 26 more at Club Q in Colorado Springs. Aldrich plead guilty on hate crime charges:

“The sentencing recommendation details Aldrich’s alleged past use of online platforms ‘to express anti-gay and anti-transgender views,’ use of anti-gay slurs and harassment of a gay co-worker in the years preceding the attack” (ABC News).

While these shootings most directly impact those injured or killed and their communities, the trauma of mass violence targeting trans and LGB communities is wide-reaching:

“Many LGBTQ+ people across the country identified with the victims of two widely publicized mass shootings that occurred at LGBTQ+ nightclubs in recent years: the Pulse shooting in 2016, and the shooting at Club Q in 2022. The mental health of survivors and directly impacted geographic communities are adversely affected by mass shootings, and individuals not directly affected by mass shooting events can also experience post-traumatic stress through media exposure” (Everytown for Gun Safety).

To add to the harm of mass violence, some public figures claimed that a disproportionate number of mass shooters are trans/nonbinary. This is not only false; it also ignores the disproportionate impact of gun violence on trans/nonbinary communities, and further vilifies trans/nonbinary people as deserving of violence and harm.

State-sanctioned hate

State-sanctioned hate refers to the anti-trans legislation being introduced in increasing numbers across the United States.[x] Anti-trans bills target many areas of life for trans and nonbinary people, including education, athletics, healthcare, bathrooms, identity documents, and more. These bills are introduced and supported by prominent public figures and legislators, who build campaigns around targeting trans and nonbinary communities.

The implications of anti-trans legislation are often vague and imprecise, which means that it can be used more broadly to target trans and nonbinary individuals. For example, legal restrictions on drag performances in places with children present might be used to target trans and nonbinary people for presenting as their identified gender in public. Policing who belongs in the women’s restroom leads to more violence for trans and cis women alike.

One respondent on the 2024 FORGE survey shared about the broad impact of anti-trans policies on the lives of individual trans and nonbinary people:

“Trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies in my state are increasing fear among trans people and increasing the threat of danger and hate motivated crimes, bias, and incidents as a direct result of the restrictive policies currently being passed.”[xi]

Overall, state-sanctioned hate contributes to a culture of anti-trans violence, affirming harmful beliefs about trans people, and encouraging individuals to act out their bias in everyday life.

When a trans person using the bathroom that aligns with their identity is against the law, it is difficult or even impossible for that person to pursue legal justice if they are physically or sexually assaulted in the bathroom. When shelters are not allowed to provide gender-integrated housing, there is often no place for nonbinary survivors to go. State-sanctioned hate both enacts its own form of violence on trans and nonbinary communities, and further victimizes survivors after experiencing other forms of violence and crime.

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