National
Media missteps after Charlie Kirk shooting put trans community at risk: advocates
As false media narratives began to spread about the Kirk’s suspected shooter, they endanger the transgender community.
Charlie Kirk, one of the country’s most prominent right-wing political commentators and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed last week while attending an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk, 31, had become a defining voice for a new generation of conservative activists—championing Trumpism, attacking LGBTQ rights, railing against immigration, and amplifying culture war rhetoric that earned him both loyal followers and passionate detractors.
Since his death, media outlets from all sides of the political spectrum began to look for any details that could speak to the killer’s motive. In that rush to be the first to cover unknown details about the alleged shooter, who we now know to be Tyler Robinson, 22, multiple outlets began publishing information that had not been vetted or checked by law enforcement.
Early reports incorrectly linked the suspected shooter to the transgender community, with several outlets citing unverified social media accounts, anonymous chatter, and suspected “antifascist” and “transgender ideology” inscribed onto bullets that had come from an early law enforcement bulletin. One outlet in particular — the Wall Street Journal — took a hardline approach to publishing this early, unvetted information. They went as far as to claim there was a direct link to the shooter and the transgender community in an article that has since been demanded to be taken down by the largest LGBTQ rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign.
The National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists (NLGJA), a professional organization advocating for LGBTQ journalists and issues in the media, responded to the Blade’s request for comment. President Ken Miguel said in an email:
“Whenever there is a terrible act of violence, newsrooms are faced with sorting rumor from fact. Unfortunately, the desire to be first sometimes gets in the way of being fair and accurate. In recent days, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post reported ‘sources’ linking Charlie Kirk’s killing with ‘transgender and antifascist ideology.’ Many other outlets had access to similar sources but waited for confirmation from those closest to the investigation.
Sharing unsubstantiated claims breaks one of journalism’s core ethical principles: do no harm. NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists is reaching out to the leadership of these papers to discuss the damage caused by this kind of coverage. Stories like these risk reinforcing harmful stereotypes and unfairly targeting a marginalized group that has already been the subject of politically motivated attacks. … Terms such as “transgender ideology” are rooted in political rhetoric, not neutral descriptions of identity, and should be handled with care, clear attribution, and context.”
In reality, investigators have confirmed that Robinson was raised in a staunchly MAGA household, with no indication he came from a “leftist” or progressive background, despite some outlets’ early claims. Law enforcement officials also confirmed that Robinson’s roommate — described by friends as a possible romantic partner — is transgender and has been cooperating fully with authorities since the shooting and knew nothing of Robinson’s alleged plan to kill Kirk.
The claim of connection to the transgender community was baseless, but it was amplified widely before any confirmation. By the time the outlet issued an editor’s note– and not removing the story like HRC had asked, the narrative had already taken root, reinforcing damaging stereotypes and giving far-right figures fresh ammunition to escalate their ongoing campaign of anti-trans rhetoric.
“This is another example of an incident where they should be focusing on gun violence, but instead they lean into scapegoating a community—this time not just without facts, but with bad facts. That does real harm to people who are already vulnerable,” said Cathy Renna, longtime communications director for the National LGBTQ Task Force.
Her frustration speaks to a broader pattern. In moments of crisis, particularly those involving mass violence, trans and queer people often become the subject of rumor, scapegoating, and speculative reporting — regardless of evidence. The Kirk shooting proved no different, exposing both the fragility of media responsibility in the digital age and the persistence of anti-trans narratives that continue to shape American discourse.
For Brandon Wolf, press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign and a survivor of the Pulse nightclub massacre, the media’s role in amplifying false connections between the Kirk shooter and “trans ideology” is not just bad reporting — it is life threatening.
“Words have consequences, and escalating dehumanizing and dangerous rhetoric against transgender people leads to physical harm,” Wolf said. “We’ve seen it over and over again. People in power can’t pretend they don’t know what their words unleash.”
Kirk’s killing, he argued, should have been a moment for the country to reckon with its epidemic of gun violence. Instead, it became another flashpoint in the culture wars, with the right exploiting misinformation to vilify an already marginalized community.
“The right wing is breathlessly obsessed with transgender people—using them as scapegoats for everything from the price of eggs to immigration policy. It’s not about policy, it’s about power, and they’re willing to sacrifice real lives in the process,” Wolf added.
That obsession, he noted, has consequences far beyond social media posts and podcasters pushing divisive language. From all levels of the country trans people are being legislated out of public life — targeted with bans on healthcare, sports participation, and restroom use. Each false narrative layered onto that environment increases the danger.
For both Wolf and Renna, the issue is not only political opportunism but also a profound failure of journalistic responsibility.
“Journalists have a responsibility to get it right, not just to get it first. When the wrong narrative takes off, it spreads like wildfire, and the truth never fully catches up. That puts people’s lives at risk,” Wolf said.
Renna agreed, stressing that the problem is systemic.
“Editors and producers make decisions every single day that impact us, and too often they’re choosing speed over accuracy, headlines over accountability,” Renna said. “That’s not just sloppy journalism—it’s irresponsible, and it costs people their safety.”
Her critique echoes years of advocacy work around media representation. As a veteran of LGBTQ communications strategy, Renna has worked directly with newsrooms to encourage fair and accurate coverage. She described the Kirk shooting coverage as a textbook example of what happens when fact-checking is abandoned for the sake of virality.
“The media is a powerful force in shaping public opinion and even people’s realities. When misused, it has a truly detrimental effect. A single inaccurate headline can reinforce stereotypes and feed dangerous narratives for years,” she said.
This disheartening example underlines a sad yet all too familiar truth– marginalized communities are often the first to be blamed when tragedy strikes.
“The most heinous part of scapegoating is that it usually targets those who are already the most vulnerable—trans folks, people of color, women. It’s punching down at people who already live under threat,” Renna said.
The impact of such scapegoating extends beyond headlines, both Wolf and Renna said. When false claims tie trans people to acts of violence, it fuels harassment online, increases the likelihood of physical violence, and deepens public misunderstanding.
“It’s unfair to the public not to fully inform them of all the parts of a story—and in this case, parts of the story weren’t just missing, they were flat-out wrong. That damages trust in the media at a time when trust is already fragile,” Renna added.
Wolf warned that this devolution of trust, and on the importance of facts in journalism feeds into broader democratic instability in America. “The never-ending livestream of gun violence in this country is really disturbing. Our brains were never meant to process that much violence and death on display at all times, and the desensitization is dangerous for democracy,” he said.
While much of the public debate after Kirk’s death centered on politics and identity, advocates stressed that the real crisis remains America’s gun epidemic.
“Gun violence should never be normal in this country. That’s not democracy. That’s not American freedom, and it’s certainly not safety,” Wolf said.
As a survivor of Pulse, Wolf’s perspective adds a unique and pointed weight. He has spent years urging lawmakers to enact reforms, all while seeing firsthand the trauma that survivors and communities endure long after headlines fade. For him, the fact that Kirk — a figure known for fanning the flame of divisiveness in the country – fell victim to the very violence he often downplayed should have been an opening for sober reflection on national priorities.
Instead, Wolf said, the narrative was taken over by people more interested in weaponizing mis- and disinformation than preventing the next tragedy.
“Political violence is never the answer. We don’t defeat hate by doubling down on it. If we want to end the cycle, we have to commit ourselves to building something better,” he said.
Renna said the Kirk shooting coverage should serve as a wake-up call for the media industry. The rush to link violence to marginalized groups, she said, reflects deeper biases that must be addressed.
“The immediate rush to report things without verifying them has become a huge problem across coverage of trans issues. It’s not just bad journalism—it actively puts people in danger,” she warned.
Advocates like Renna and Wolf are urging both media leaders and the public to demand better. For journalists, that means investing in fact-checking, slowing down when information is unverified, and considering the real-world consequences of framing choices. For the public, it means resisting the urge to amplify unconfirmed narratives and holding outlets accountable when they fail.
The stakes could not be higher, especially for transgender people. Anti-trans rhetoric has already been linked to rising violence against LGBTQ people nationwide.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk was a shocking moment in American politics, one that should have sparked urgent conversations about gun violence, political extremism, and the health of democracy. Instead, misinformation and scapegoating shifted the focus onto one of the nation’s most vulnerable communities and continues to dominate headlines.
For Wolf and Renna, the lesson is clear: until the media take its responsibility more seriously, trans people will continue to bear the brunt of careless reporting and opportunistic politics.
“Words have consequences,” Wolf reminded. And when those words are wielded recklessly in the wake of tragedy, the consequences can be deadly.
Kansas
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
A new Kansas bill requires transgender residents to have their driver’s licenses reflect their sex assigned at birth, invalidating current licenses.
Transgender people across Kansas received letters in the mail on Wednesday demanding the immediate surrender of their driver’s licenses following passage of one of the harshest transgender bathroom bans in the nation. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is filing a lawsuit to block the ban and protect transgender residents from what advocates describe as “sweeping” and “punitive” consequences.
Independent journalist Erin Reed broke the story Wednesday after lawmakers approved House Substitute for Senate Bill 244. In her reporting, Reed included a photo of the letter sent to transgender Kansans, requiring them to obtain a driver’s license that reflects their sex assigned at birth rather than the gender with which they identify.
According to the reporting, transgender Kansans must surrender their driver’s licenses and that their current credentials — regardless of expiration date — will be considered invalid upon the law’s publication. The move effectively nullifies previously issued identification documents, creating immediate uncertainty for those impacted.
House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 also stipulates that any transgender person caught driving without a valid license could face a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. That potential penalty adds a criminal dimension to what began as an administrative action. It also compounds the legal risks for transgender Kansans, as the state already requires county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth — a policy that advocates say can place transgender detainees at heightened risk.
Beyond identification issues, SB 244 not only bans transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity in government buildings — including libraries, courthouses, state parks, hospitals, and interstate rest stops — with the possibility for criminal penalties, but also allows for what critics have described as a “bathroom bounty hunter” provision. The measure permits anyone who encounters a transgender person in a restroom — including potentially in private businesses — to sue them for large sums of money, dramatically expanding the scope of enforcement beyond government authorities.
The lawsuit challenging SB 244 was filed today in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The complaint argues that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a temporary restraining order on behalf of the anonymous plaintiffs, arguing that the order — followed by a temporary injunction — is necessary to prevent the “irreparable harm” that would result from SB 244.
State Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Kansas Legislature, told the Kansas City Star on Wednesday that “persecution is the point.”
“This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”
“SB 244 is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”
“SB 244 presents a state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences,” said Heather St. Clair, a Ballard Spahr litigator working on the case. “Ballard Spahr is committed to standing with the ACLU and the plaintiffs in fighting on behalf of transgender Kansans for a remedy against the injustices presented by SB 244, and is dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights jeopardized by this new law.”
National
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Top editorial staff let go last week
Former staff members at the Advocate and Out magazines revealed that parent company Equalpride laid off a number of employees late last week.
Those let go included Advocate editor-in-chief Alex Cooper, Pride.com editor-in-chief Rachel Shatto, brand partnerships manager Erin Manley, community editor Marie-Adélina de la Ferriére, and Out magazine staff writers Moises Mendez and Bernardo Sim, according to a report in Hollywood Reporter.
Cooper, who joined the company in 2021, posted to social media that, “Few people have had the privilege of leading this legendary LGBTQ+ news outlet, and I’m deeply honored to have been one of them. To my team: thank you for the last four years. You’ve been the best. For those also affected today, please let me know how I can support you.”
The Advocate’s PR firm when reached by the Blade said it no longer represents the company. Emails to the Advocate went unanswered.
Equalpride on Friday announced it acquired “Them,” a digital LGBTQ outlet founded in 2017 by Conde Nast.
“Equalpride exists to elevate, celebrate and protect LGBTQ+ storytelling at scale,” Equalpride CEO Mark Berryhill said according to Hollywood Reporter. “By combining the strengths of our brands with this respected digital platform, we’re creating a unified ecosystem that delivers even more impact for our audiences, advertisers, and community partners.”
It’s not clear if “Them” staff would take over editorial responsibilities for the Advocate and Out.
Federal Government
Two very different views of the State of the Union
As Trump delivered his SOTU address inside the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers gathered outside in protest, condemning the administration’s harmful policies.
As President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address inside the U.S. Capitol — touting his achievements and targeting political enemies — progressive members of Congress gathered just outside in protest.
Their message was blunt: For many Americans, particularly LGBTQ people, the country is not better off.
Each year, as required by Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the president must “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.” The annual address is meant to outline accomplishments and preview the year ahead. This year, Trump delivered the longest State of the Union in U.S. history, clocking in at one hour and 48 minutes. He spoke about immigration, his “law and order” domestic agenda, his “peace through strength” foreign policy doctrine, and what he framed as the left’s ‘culture wars’ — especially those involving transgender youth and Christian values.
But one year into what he has called the “Trump 2.0” era, the picture painted outside the Capitol stood in stark contrast to the one described inside.
Transgender youth
In one of the most pointed moments of his speech, Trump spotlighted Sage Blair, using her story to portray gender-affirming care as coercive and dangerous. Framing the issue as one of parental rights and government overreach, he told lawmakers and viewers:
“In the gallery tonight are Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle. In 2021, Sage was 14 when school officials in Virginia sought to socially transition her to a new gender, treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Before long, a confused Sage ran away from home.
“After she was found in a horrific situation in Maryland, a left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son. Sage was thrown into an all-boys state home and suffered terribly for a long time. But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud and wonderful young woman with a full ride scholarship to Liberty University.
“Sage and Michelle, please stand up. And thank you for your great bravery and who can believe that we’re even speaking about things like this. Fifteen years ago, if somebody was up here and said that, they’d say, what’s wrong with him? But now we have to say it because it’s going on all over, numerous states, without even telling the parents.
“But surely, we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. Who would believe that we’ve been talking about that? We must ban it and we must ban it immediately. Look, nobody stands up. These people are crazy. I’m telling you, they’re crazy.”
The story, presented as encapsulation of a national crisis, became the foundation for Trump’s renewed call to ban gender-affirming care. LGBTQ advocates — and those familiar with Blair’s story — argue that the situation was far more complex than described and that using a single anecdote to justify sweeping federal restrictions places transgender people, particularly youth, at greater risk.
Equality Virginia said the president’s remarks were part of a broader effort to strip transgender Americans of access to care. In a statement to the Blade, the group said:
“Tonight, the president is choosing to double down on efforts to disrupt access to evidence-based, lifesaving care.
“Rather than allowing families and doctors to navigate deeply personal medical decisions free from federal interference — or allowing schools to respond with nuance and compassion without putting marginalized children at risk — the president is instead advocating for reckless, one-size-fits-all political control.
“At a time when Virginians are worried about rising costs, economic uncertainty, and aggressive immigration enforcement actions disrupting communities and families, attacking transgender young people is a blatant political distraction from the real challenges facing our nation. Virginia families and health care providers do not need Donald Trump telling them what care they do or do not need.”
For many in the LGBTQ community, the rhetoric inside the chamber echoed actions already taken by the administration.
Earlier this month, the Pride flag was removed from the Stonewall National Monument under a National Park Service directive that came from the top. Community members returned to the site, raised the flag again, and filed suit, arguing the removal violated federal law. To advocates, the move was symbolic — a signal that even the legacy of LGBTQ resistance was not immune.
Immigration and fear
Immigration dominated both events as well.
Inside the chamber, Trump boasted about the hundreds of thousands of immigrants detained in makeshift facilities. Outside, Democratic lawmakers described those same facilities as concentration camps and detailed what they characterized as the human toll of the administration’s enforcement policies.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), speaking to the crowd, painted a grim picture of communities living in fear:
“People are vanishing into thin air. Quiet mornings are punctuated by jarring violence. Students are assaulted by ICE agents sitting outside the high school, hard working residents are torn from their vehicles in front of their children. Families, hopelessly search for signs of their loved ones who have stopped answering their phones, stop replying to text… This is un-American, it is illegal, it is unconstitutional, and the people are going to rise up and fight for Gladys Vega and all of those poor people who today need to know that the people’s State of the Union is the beginning of a long fight that is going to result in the end of Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the United States of America in 2026.”
Speakers emphasized that LGBTQ immigrants are often especially vulnerable — fleeing persecution abroad only to face detention and uncertainty in the United States. For them, the immigration crackdown and the attacks on transgender health care are not separate battles but intertwined fronts in a broader cultural and political war.
Queer leadership
After delivering remarks alongside Robert Garcia, Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, took the stage and transformed the freezing crowd’s anger into resolve.
Garcia later told the Blade that visibility matters in moments like this — especially when LGBTQ rights are under direct attack.
“We should be crystal clear about right now what is happening in our country,” Garcia said. “We have a president who is leading the single largest government cover up in modern history, we have the single largest sex trafficking ring in modern history right now being covered up by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi In the Department of Justice. Why are we protecting powerful, wealthy men who have abused and raped women and children in this country? Why is our government protecting these men at this very moment? In my place at the Capitol is a woman named Annie farmer. Annie and her sister Maria, both endured horrific abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. As we move forward in this investigation, always center the survivors; we are going to get justice for the survivors. And Donald Trump may call this investigation a hoax. He may try to deflect our work, but our message to him is very clear that our investigation is just getting started, and we will we will get justice for these survivors.”
He told the Blade afterwards that having queer leaders front and center is itself an act of resistance.
“I obviously was very honored to speak with Kelley,” the California representative said. Kelley is doing a great job…it’s important that there are queer voices, trans voices, gay voices, in protest, and I think she’s a great example of that. It’s important to remind the country that the rights of our community continue to be attacked, and then we’ve got to stand up. Got to stand up for this as well.”
Robinson echoed that call, urging LGBTQ Americans — especially young people — not to lose hope despite the administration’s escalating rhetoric.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people that are standing up for you every single day that will not relent and will not give an inch until every member of our community is protected, especially our kids, especially our trans and queer kids. I just hope that the power of millions of voices drowns out that one loud one, because that’s really what I want folks to see at HRC. We’ve got 3.6 million members that are mobilizing to support our community every single day, 75 million equality voters, people that decide who they’re going to vote for based on issues related to our community. Our job is to make sure that all those people stand up so that those kids can see us and hear our voices, because we’re going to be what stands in the way.”
A boycott — and a warning
The list of Democratic lawmakers who boycotted the State of the Union included Sens. Ruben Gallego, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff, Tina Smith, and Chris Van Hollen, along with dozens of House members.
For those gathered outside — and for viewers watching the livestream hosted by MoveOn — the counter-programming was not merely symbolic. It was a warning.
While the president spoke of strength and success inside the chamber, LGBTQ Americans — particularly transgender youth — were once again cast as political targets. And outside the Capitol, lawmakers and advocates made clear that the fight over their rights is far from over.
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Spring into sold
Plan your wedding the LGBTQ way
Calendar: February 27-March 5
Rob Jetten becomes first gay Dutch prime minister
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes medal at Olympics
New book profiles LGBTQ Ukrainians, documents war experiences
PHOTOS: Queen of Hearts
