Queering the News for the Week of 9/6
DOJ on Trans People
I try to cover multiple stories each week, bringing good and bad news, and giving a wide perspective, but this week I only have one I want to cover.
Let’s get into it.
Trump admin considers suspending 2nd Amendment for trans people
On September 4, Newsmax and later CNN reported that the Department of Justice was considering stripping gun rights from trans people, according to senior officials.
One official said that the goal of such a ban is “to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell.”
Another spokesperson told The Independent, “the DOJ is actively evaluating options to prevent the pattern of violence we have seen from individuals with specific mental health challenges and substance abuse disorders.”
To successfully strip 2nd Amendment rights from someone, a judge has to declare someone mentally “defective.” To push that definition to trans people as an entity is a massive leap.
This follows the Annunciation Church shooting, where two children tragically died at the hands of a trans woman. People such as Elon Musk have used the tragedy to justify their claims that most shootings are committed by trans people, which is patently false.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, of the more than 5,700 mass shootings in the US, a total of five shooters were confirmed to be trans.
A spokesperson for the advocacy group GLAAD said the DOJ is using the transgender community as a scapegoat.
“Instead of actual solutions, the administration is again choosing to scapegoat and target a small and vulnerable population,” the GLAAD spokesperson said, noting that transgender people are less than 2% of the US population but four times as likely to be victims of crime. “Everyone deserves to be themselves, be safe, and be free from violence and discrimination.”
This week has been a lot. I have a lot of fears right now. Be kind to yourselves.
Going forward, these roundups may be more sporadic or just shorter. I’m working on a really great community project. Can’t wait to share more.