Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Reuters
We should, as human beings, feel once again united by tragedy, as the epidemic of gun violence, especially another school shooting, brings us all together in exasperation. We typically would be focused on mourning the tragic loss of life at Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on the murders of little children, on the killings of the three adults gunned down in cold blood Monday morning. We’ve learned from police that the shooter had plans to go on a rampage beyond that private Christian school, to a local mall and more.
You might even expect this would be that hallowed time of GOP “thoughts and prayers,” and renewed calls for more laws regarding mental health. But, no: This time is different, because the person pulling the triggers was transgender, like me.
We trans Americans find ourselves reeling from unprovoked and unjustifiable attacks, on television, on social media, and across conservative news media—as if we pulled the triggers that killed six people in Tennessee. The message they’re sending is that despite the fact 99% of mass murderers are cisgender white men, the massacre is our fault.