Nashville mass shooting sparks controversy after critics point to shooter’s gender identity

The March 27 shooting at The Covenant School, a private Christian school, has led to increased hate speech toward transgender individuals specifically across social media platforms. Some conservatives are saying that the U.S.  is facing an “epidemic of trans shooters,” despite the majority of American mass shootings being committed by cisgender males. Unsplash

Some Republican politicians have begun to spread anti-trans rhetoric after a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27, where six people were killed by a shooter that may identify as transgender. 

Fox News host Tucker Carlson used a photo of the shooter on his show, followed by the captions “Trans Killer” and “We are witnessing the rise of trans violence,” shortly after the shooting took place.

On Twitter, the hashtag “#TransTerrorism'' gained popularity on the platform after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted about a "clear epidemic of trans/nonbinary mass shooters.” 

Despite the claims of politicians like Trump and Carlson’s, the majority of mass shootings in the U.S. have been committed by cisgender males.

Former President Donald Trump also made a claim that hormone therapy was a catalyst to the shooting, despite there being no clear evidence that connects the two.

Leilani Zbin, a senior at Chapman University studying health sciences who identifies as non-binary, is a lead organizer for the Queer and Trans People of Color Collective (QTPOCC) and a member of the Queer Student Alliance (QSA) on campus. 

“The shooter committed horrific acts of violence, but this one person does not reflect the entirety of the trans community,” Zbin told The Panther.“We must condemn the acts (of shooters), but we do not have to condemn their transness. We must continue to use the correct pronouns for the shooter and not to use their transness as a reason for their acts of violence.”

Zbin said that the Nashville shooting has been an instance followed by increased discrimination, but hate against transgender individuals in the U.S. has been prevalent since long before. 

“While the Nashville school shooting has heightened trans hate, anti-trans legislation has been pushed in state governments for a while now,” Zbin said. “A frightening amount of anti-trans legislation that is being pushed continues to worsen the environment for genderqueer individuals as they develop and/or express their identities.”

Zbin emphasized that the presence of transgender hate in American society has detrimental effects on the mental health of trans people. 

“Discrimination and bullying has a harmful effect on the mental wellness of people of the marginalized community,” Zbin said. “For this reason, the LGBTQ+ community, especially the trans community, have high rates of depression, anxiety and/or suicide. We are a community in constant peril.”

Jordan Boggess, a graduate student and the co-president of QSA, said that the trans hate rhetoric is meant to villainize the trans community. 

“If I could speak to the conservatives spreading hate, I would say, ‘I am sorry that you are so afraid of your rights being infringed upon and that you feel the need to attack a community you know nothing about. It is your ignorance and fear that instills hate and bigotry, and I wish you could feel and experience the emotional turmoil of those you hurt in the process… We have been here, we will always be here, and the hatred you harbor will only make us stronger,’” Boggess told The Panther.

To stop the spread of false information and harmful opinions about the trans community, Boggess believes that education is the answer. 

“We should invite everyone into our spaces. No one shall be excluded from the conversation,” Boggess said. “We should challenge ourselves to continue to grow and learn new terminology, trans history and ways of advocacy. We should call out transphobia and cissexism when we see it and help those who do not have a voice.”

Vivienne Ayres, a junior studying broadcast journalism and documentary from Nashville, said that she has seen a rise in politics in the younger generation of the city. 

“I noticed that people from home, especially high schoolers, have had to become political when they hadn’t been previously because it is personal now,” Ayres said. “Students are standing up and protesting, but in Tennessee, Republicans always have the upper hand.”

In terms of student protests, Ayres said that she hopes the political activity will result in a legislative change. 

“Seeing all the news coverage of Nashville recently has made me homesick, because in a lot of ways, it has put an emphasis on community,” Ayres said. “Younger generations standing up to conservative legislators is the kind of grassroots change that the state desperately needs right now. I hope protests can actually affect legislation and the conservative culture of Nashville.”

Liz Sanchez, a queer studies professor at Chapman, said that as a trans person, they feel a sort of duality about the shooting. 

“I’m upset with innocent folks passing, but I'm also upset that a young trans man is being ridiculed in such a horrific way,” Sanchez said. “There’s almost guilt. If I humanize him, I feel like mainstream society and hetero-society will make me feel bad for doing that, so it’s really conflicting.”

Sanches said toxic masculinity is a major cause of mass shootings.

“This is a gender issue, but it’s also a human issue,” Sanchez said. “A lot of these mass shootings and violence are correlated with gender violence. It’s just toxic masculinity with a gun, whether trans or cis. It's toxic masculinity.”

To put a stop to trans hate and mass shootings, Sanchez said that the answer is in abolitionism and education.

“As an abolitionist, I don’t believe in the criminal legal system, but it also is heartbreaking to see him be misgendered and attacked. So it’s this weird dual reality where there's two realms,” Sanchez said. “No one is born a monster. We create monsters. We don’t have accessible healthcare (or) mental healthcare, so these people get lost, and they don’t get help, and they end up acting out in violent ways.”

Sanchez put an emphasis on the turmoil that the queer community is feeling at this time, in addition to the rise in trans hate. 

“We have a community member that just caused violent harm, traumatic harm. We know that,” Sanchez said. “But I can’t help but want to also protect him and what he has gone through as a trans person. There’s some guilt with that. Queer and trans people are going through an intense amount of emotional labor right now in regard to the national shooting.”

Sanchez also explained the importance of understanding the perspective of the queer community while everyone processes the news of the shooting. 

“I hope cis straight people will understand needing to be empathetic toward the trans community for many reasons, but in regard to the national shooting, just be open to uncomfortable conversations,” Sanchez said.