Last Friday, we discussed the fact that Republicans are using transphobia to obstruct climate action. Today, we’ll explain how transphobic rhetoric often relies on the same set of science denialist rhetorical techniques as climate change denial.
At the core, conspiracy theories are a defining feature of how both climate denial and transphobia require intentionally misleading presentations to disguise their fundamental lack of evidence, as both are expressions of a motivated rejection of reality and therefore require a mechanism to write off experts.
While conspiratorial thinking creates excuses, it's often too obviously ridiculous to pass in polite society. For that, there's paltering, another technique used in science denial, where true statements are presented in a misleading way. While conspiracies remain under the bridge, so to speak, with the trolls, paltering is usually professional, and is often seen in oil industry advertisements.
Or, take an April Fox News article, entitled “Transgender female runner who beat 14,000 women at London Marathon offers to give medal back.” This is a clear example of transphobic paltering, since it uses a technically true statement to spread disinformation about trans women in sports and imply that the athlete in question won the race. But the reality is that while the athlete did beat many other runners (with a 4:11:26 time Paul Ryan would have claimed he ran in 3:02:17), she actually came in 6,160th place overall among 20,000 total marathoners.
Transphobes don’t have any solid evidence to back up their positions ("trans athlete comes in 6,160th place" wouldn't make a good headline) so they twist real events to mislead readers.
Unfortunately, that lack of evidence doesn't always stop the media from giving a megaphone to science deniers by adhering to an uncritical “both sides” approach. False equivalence is the practice of “making it appear that both sides of an argument have equal merit when one side relies on factual evidence and the other does not,” and this harmful convention is still disturbingly present in journalism about trans rights, though largely overcome in mainstream media when it comes to the climate crisis.
The Atlantic’s recent profile of CNN’s (now-ousted) CEO Chris Licht revealed that on the subject of gender affirming care for trans kids, Licht stated, “There is a truth in there, and it may not serve one side or the other.” These types of comments completely ignore the fact that one “side” builds its policies on actual scientific facts and the other side only has conspiracy theories. But they do serve as a more palatable version of overtly hateful viewpoints.
Toxic (or reactionary) centrism is another tactic utilized by both transphobes and obstructors of climate action. Science deniers love to frame scientifically correct ideas as extreme and false claims as reasonable or moderate. The reality is that “centrism” often favors the unjust status quo, and halfway between justice and injustice is still injustice. Praising yourself for being slightly less unjust than other people is not at all reasonable.
Unfortunately, this is where the problem extends beyond the right-wing sphere. How many trans women working in the climate space do you know? What about trans women of color? Climate organizations, especially moderate ones, run the risk of being complicit in the systemic oppression of trans people by maintaining inequitable hiring practices that marginalize trans people and trans women specifically, ignoring the clear connection between climate denial and transphobia, and, worst of all, intentionally caving to or even fueling right-wing fearmongering about trans people.
For example, Duke University is positioning itself as a leader in climate change research, but it is also playing a huge role in spreading transphobia nationwide. The university runs an anti-transgender advocacy office at its law school that distributes anti-trans legislative arguments that have informed 22 states’ anti-trans sports laws. Furthermore, Doriane Coleman, a Duke law professor, cofounded a transphobic group that endorses “sex segregation,” and she is referenced four times in North Carolina’s 2021 anti-trans athlete bill.
Confronting this wall of hatred can often seem overwhelming, but hardworking trans leaders are providing a beacon of hope. For example, trans actress, TikTok star, and activist Dylan Mulvaney has fearlessly advocated for trans rights despite being targeted by the anti-ESG movement. Additionally, Chase Strangio is an accomplished trans civil rights attorney and the Deputy Director for Transgender Justice at the ACLU who works tirelessly to combat anti-trans legislation.
“We need to be serious about the magnitude of what's going on without overly catastrophizing it,” Strangio told Them magazine. “The history of queer activism is one of disruption, one of stunting, of fabulousness. We can't lose sight of that.”
