Conspiracy 101: The Anti-Trans Moral Panic

Anti-Trans rhetoric has been on the rise over the past few years, stoked by high profile accounts on Twitter such as J.K Rowling^[1]Independent: A timeline of JK Rowling’s comments about women and transgender rights^[2]Vox: Is J.K. Rowling transphobic? Let’s let her speak for herself and Graham Linehan^[3]The Telegraph: Graham Linehan interview: ‘I didn’t realise how terrified everyone was of trans activists’^[4]Independent: Graham Linehan ‘dropped by his agent’ after attacking Doctor Who star David Tennant^[5]Pink News: Anti-trans mouthpiece Graham Linehan suspended from Twitter … again.

While you might have been able to keep away from anti-trans social media, the movement was firmly pulled into the mainstream during the Olympics thanks to widespread misinformation surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.

Khelif, light welterweight boxer who won Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics^[6]AP News: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif clinches medal at Olympics after outcry fueled by gender misconceptions, was pulled into a “gender controversy” after a qualifying match against Italian Angela Carini.

Carini lasted a mere 48 seconds in the ring and the bout ended with the Italian claiming that the fight was “unjust” and that she’d never been hit so hard in her whole career^[7]The Independent: Angela Carini ‘wants to apologise’ to Imane Khelif for aftermath of controversial Olympic boxing bout. This led to people investigating Khelif and they found that she was disqualified from the World Championships in 2023 after she failed a qualification “test”.

In a statement, the IBA said:

the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential^[8]IBA: Statement made by the International Boxing Association regarding Athletes Disqualifications in World Boxing Championships 2023.

The IBA announced they would be holding a press conference to discuss the matter and reveal the evidence they used to disqualify the boxer. Three IBA leaders turned up over 3 hours late for, with the president Umar Kremlev dialing in remotely and only speaking in Russian^[9]The Washington Post: Russian boxing chief fuels Olympic turmoil at bizarre news conference^[10]Archive .

Although IBA president Umar Kremlev later went on to state that Khelif did in fact take and fail a testosterone test contradicting his own organisation’s statement^[11]Forbes: What To Know About Olympics Gender Debate As Imane Khelif Wins Women’s Boxing Final they failed to provide any actual evidence, instead stating they had been blocked from releasing the results due to a privacy complaint from the Algerian Olympics committee.

That would be all well and good if we knew what the test was that she took and failed and it’s odd that the IBA will not disclose even the most basic of information.

The timing of the ban was also questioned by many people who follow boxing as Khelif was disqualified shortly after Algeria withdrew its support for Russia over the war with Ukraine and just days after Khelif won against previously undefeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva. Because of the ban, the loss was wiped from Amineva’s record which now became perfect again^[12]PBS: What is the IBA? Governing body behind Olympic boxing storm has Russian ties, troubled history.

The IBA (a rebranded AIBA who changed their name to distance themselves from their controversies^[13]The Sporting News: What is the IBA in boxing? Explaining International Boxing Association’s history of scandal, controversy) has long been troubled^[14]AP: Banned governing body that’s fueling outcry on Olympic boxers has Russian ties and troubled history with claims of a lack of transparency^[15]AP News: Timeline of boxing body AIBA’s problems, financial irregularities^[16]BBC Sport: ‘Boxing cannot shake culture of bout manipulation’ – Professor Richard McLaren, judging scandals^[17]AP News: Several unfit judges, referees knocked out of Olympic boxing and ties to Russia^[18]AP News: Russia’s Kremlev defies Olympic concern to win boxing vote.

Despite the dubious nature of the disqualification it didn’t take long for Anti-Trans Twitter to pick up on the story and begin spreading a massive about of misinformation claiming that Khelif, a CIS woman who was assigned female at birth^[19]USA Today: Fact check on Algerian fighter Imane Khelif, DSDs, biology and Olympic boxing, was in fact a man boxing in the woman’s competition.

It didn’t help that prominent accounts also started tweeting about “men punching women” and sharing misinformation or outright lies:

Source: Twitter/jk_rowling

Source: Twitter/jk_rowling

Amazingly, the article Rowling shared in the above tweet is still up and has not been corrected or updated in anyway. I’m not going to link to it for obvious reasons and I hope Khelif considers legal action against it’s “author”.

Source: Twitter/Glinner

Source: Twitter/Glinner

Logan Paul also had thoughts on the matter with a now deleted Tweet that read:

“This is the purest form of evil unfolding right before our eyes. A man was allowed to beat up a woman on a global stage, crushing her life’s dream while fighting for her deceased father. This delusion must end.”^[20]Sportskeeda: Logan Paul backtracks on Imane Khelif comments, admits he “might be guilty of spreading misinformation”^[21]The Mirror: Olympics gender row: Les Dennis praised for his apology as J.K Rowling furiously slammed^[22]Variety: Logan Paul Admits to ‘Spreading Misinformation’ After Making Controversial Remarks About Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif

He then “apologised” for spreading misinformation while standing by his initial statement which isn’t really an apology then, is it?

Source: Twitter/LoganPaul

And then there was this….

Source: Twitter/ElonMusk

And of course Donald Trump had to give his opinion:

With mainstream media now getting on the anti-trans bandwagon (with absolutely no reason in this case) I thought I’d take a look at what “Moral Panics” are, what previous moral panics there have been in the past and why conservatives politicians love stoking the flames of a moral panic.

Update – 18th August 2024: During the course of me researching and writing this article, Imane Khelif has now launched legal action in France claiming she faced “aggravated cyber-harrassment”^[23]AP: Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif filed a legal complaint for online harassment against her.

What Is A “Moral Panic”?

A moral panic is a widespread, and often irrational, fear that targets a particular section of society – most commonly a minority group^[24]ThoughtCo: A Sociological Understanding of Moral Panic who don’t fall into “normal” societal expectations. These groups are then demonised^[25]Britannica: Moral Panic in manufactured outrage in order to suit an agenda.

It’s usually a target that’s picked up on by the press who publish over-exaggerated stories in order to sell their newspapers, these talking are then picked up on by politicians who use them to bring in new laws citing that the “public” is in favour of these actions.

While the the term is widely attributed to Stanley Cohen from his 1972 in a book called “Folk Devils and Moral Panics” the phrase was actually used as far back as 1832^[26]SociolgyMag: What Are Moral Panics? during an outbreak of cholera in Sunderland.

Cohen’s main moral panic example were the riots that happened in the 1960s between the Mods and the Rockers^[27]BBC Culture: Mods v Rockers: Two tribes go to war. This was followed by further panics over the Skin heads vs Hippies, again in the 1960s and then the Punks vs Teds in the 1970s and 80s.

Cohen stated in his book that a moral panic is:

a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests…
the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people…
Sometimes the object of the panic is quite novel and at other times it is something which has been in existence long enough, but suddenly appears in the limelight^[28]SociologyMag: What Are Moral Panics?.

While he acknowledges that the threats are real – there were indeed riots large scale between the Mods & Rockers over multiple weekends – they are usually exaggerated by people seeking to profit off them in some way whether that be increase newspaper sales, political influence or followers.

The press coverage of the vandalism caused during the initial Mod/Rocker seaside visits blew everything out of proportion and actually caused the two factions to see themselves at “war” and so the riots began – caused by the very press who covered them in the first place.

What Are Behind Moral Panics?

Cohen identifies 5 main traits that lay behind moral panics and broke them down as follows^[29]SimplyPsychology: Moral Panic and Folk Devils:

Folk Devils

These are individuals or groups who don’t fit in with a generalised view of “acceptable” society. They could be Trans people, drag queens, a punk rocker or an immigrant for example.

These people are seen to have no redeeming qualities and cannot be “fixed” to fit in with society. This “Othering^[30]VeryWellMind: How Othering Contributes to Discrimination and Prejudice” forces these groups to be seen in an extremely negative light, demonising them in the process.

The Law

The police, judiciary and military are the main form of upholding law and order.

The public rely on them to maintain the peace, arrest the bad guys and stop civil unrest.

They’re also there to legislate against the “folk devils”, protecting the public from them.

The Media

Previously, moral panics were driven by the printed press but in this more modern era, thanks to a 24-hour news cycle needing to be filled and people wanting impressions on social media posts information can be shared much more quickly and to a far wider audience.

The media will stoke panic in their audience by framing the situation in cloak of outrage (“How dare they come over here and take our jobs”, “Trans people groom kids”, “All gay people have AIDS”) without offering much proof, nuance or balance over the situation.

In order to manipulate their audiences the media use the tactics of priming^[31]Media Theory: Priming Theory | How Media Shapes Perception & Behavior and framing^[32]Media Theory: Framing Theory | Unveiling the Power of Media Perception.

Priming is the psychological theory that people being exposed to a specific subject can have their responses to subsequent related media altered by their initial response.

Framing is the deliberate process by the media producer to highlight certain aspects of a story and ignore others. Much like a photographer chooses where to place their subject in a shot, what items are in the background and what items are in focus.

By using priming to show endless footage of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats or people crossing the Mexico/US and framing them as criminals who are taking our jobs and stealing our housing, the media can manipulate public perceptions causing unreasonable levels of fear in the general public.

Politicians

Politicians play a large part in creating moral panics. They give legitimacy to the panic generated by the media.

By attaching themselves to an issue, the Politician can be seen as strong and want to protect the public from the “folk devils”, they can then leverage this to get more media coverage and bolster public opinion of themselves.

We can see this with the way Sunak railed against the small boats or Trump saying South American countries are emptying their asylums and sending the inmates to America (although there’s no proof of this^[33]CNN Politics: Fact check: Trump’s own campaign can’t find proof for his ‘mental institutions’ immigration story and some think he’s confusing asylum seekers with insane asylums^[34]NewsOne: Trump Confusing Seeking Asylum With ‘Insane Asylums’ Is Latest Hint Of Cognitive Decline).

The General Public

Moral panics can’t exist in a vacuum. If the media sees that what they’re spreading isn’t getting traction then they’ll move on to the next topic trying to find something that resonates.

If no one perceives drag queens as an issue but the media continues to showcase them as something to be feared then the public will start to ignore that rhetoric and move on but by using manipulative priming and framing a section of public can be drawn in to the narrative – and it doesn’t even have to be a high percentage of the public, just enough to drive engagement.

Moral Panics In History

Perhaps one of the most infamous moral panics was The Salem Witch trials.

As a quick TLDR: In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 several young girls began to experience strange symptoms such as fainting, fits and rigid limbs.

The elders of the village decided that witchcraft must be afoot and interviewed the girls to find out who the perpetrator was. The girls started naming random people in the village, seemingly relishing in the attention they were receiving, and with their accusations 25 men, women and children were put to death^[35]History Network: The Salem Trials Challenge Us to Resist Moral Panic and Suspicion.

I won’t go into more detail surrounding the panic here as it’s quite long and complicated but I think you have the general gist of things. If you want to learn more I can highly recommend “The Witches of Salem” docudrama series which is available to stream on Sky History and Discovery+ in the UK.

In more modern times, as we’ve seen above there have been moral panics in the UK over mods and rockers, skinheads, punks and more.

Dr. Steve Williams, associate professor of sociology at the University of Southern Indiana, states that there used to be about a 10 year cycle of moral panics^[36]University of Southern Indiana: Rock ‘n’ roll and “moral panics” – Part One: 1950s and 1960s.

Perhaps one of the earliest “modern” moral panic was prohibition^[37]Everyday Sociology: Prohibition, Moral Panics, and Social Control where a small group of people were able to demonise alcohol to the extent that the Constitution was changed banning it.

Moving into the 1950s you had the Red Scare Moral Panic^[38]Wikipedia: Red Scare where everyone was supposedly a Communist (there was also a prior Red Scare just after the First World War but that wasn’t as far reaching), the Rock and Roll moral panic^[39]Brillianto: Shaking Up Society: Why Was Rock and Roll Controversial in the 1950s? which saw the rise of “teenage” youth culture.

In the 1980s we had the “war” on drugs, video “nasties”^[40]British Film Institute: Where to begin with video nasties and the AIDs panics, in the 1990s in the UK it was Rave culture^[41]Evil Unravelled: Rave culture, ecstasy, and moral panic in 1990s Britain, in the US it was computer game violence because of Columbine, but when we get into the 2000s we can see that the pace of the panics has picked up so sharply it’s hard to keep up with them all.

The War On Terror, The Great Replacement Theory, DEI, COVID vaccines, The Global Elite, knife crime in the UK, QAnon, The War on Christmas, Immigration and Transgender rights.

I could go on but the list is seemingly endless and increasing day-by-day.

So what how did the ant-trans moral panic start and what is everyone apparently so afraid of?

TERF Wars

People have always been afraid of anything that doesn’t fit into a nice neat box and with the rise of social media they have become exposed to cultures and ways of life that would have been completely hidden to them before.

As people become more comfortable being their authentic selves, both online and in real life, certain elements of society start to feel threatened that these non-conforming people are taking over, trying to convert people to their cause or way of thinking.

This causes people to be afraid, they reach out online looking for validation of their feelings, seeking likeminded people to connect with^[42]Vox: TERFs: the rise of “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” explained – this of course is a rather simplified version of the psychological and emotional reasoning behind all of this, but that’s outside the scope of this article.

As these people begin to find each other, their voices get louder and the press starts to notice. The media, realising that this is something that they could profit from, amplify these minority voices which justifies their sense of morality and reinforces their views.

And this is how the Terf movement was essentially born.

Terf, which stands for “Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist”, are a predominantly right-wing anti-trans movement who pressure governments, health care and service providers to remove gender affirming care from trans people.

The term was first used in 2008 by Viv Smythe^[43]Wikidpedia: TERF (acronym) to differentiate between radical feminists who support trans women and those who reject the fact that trans women are women. By 2020 the term became intertwined with gender critical feminism (a belief that sex is biological and unable to be changed^[44]Wikipedia: Gender-critical feminism).

While the term had previously been embraced by anti-trans feminists it was slowly being used as a derogatory term by those outside the movement with some anti-trans feminists claiming the word was being used as a slur against them^[45]The Conversation: Why the words we use matter when describing anti-trans activists.

Terf doesn’t meet the criteria of a slur^[46]Daily Dot: TERF wars: Why trans-exclusionary radical feminists have no place in feminism but that doesn’t stop some in the media trying to claim it is^[47]The Telegraph: ‘Terf’ is the ultimate slur against women, interestingly many of these women fall firmly in “camp Terf” and many often try to justify their anti-trans views as merely being pro-women’s safety^[48]J.k Rowling: J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues and pro-free speech.

But then men started to get involved.

Cisgender Enters The Chat

In June 2023 James Esses, who is Co-Ordinator of the “Declaration for Biological Reality”, an organisation that “have very serious and growing concerns about the impact that gender identity ideology is having on our society^[49]Declaration for Biological Reality”, stated that he “rejects the word ‘cis'”. Elon Musk responded saying that “cis” and cisgender” were now considered slurs on his platform, Twitter:

Source: Twtter/elonmusk

The problem with this? Cisgender isn’t a slur, it merely describes someone whose sex and gender identity aligns with those they were assigned at birth^[50]Wikipedia: Cisgender.

As a reminder, a slur is “expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something^[51]Wikipedia: Perjorative” so merely describing someone as the sex they are born and how they express themselves^[52]Healthline: What Does It Mean to Be Cisgender? cannot in and of itself be a slur but I guess as men want to jump on the Terf bandwagon and perhaps don’t want to class themselves as a “feminist” they needed to feel included somehow.

A Moral Panic Over Nothing

So what does the anti-trans moral panic movement believe?

You can date the start of this iteration of the anti-trans moral panic back to around 2017^[53]The Conversation: A trans review of 2017: the year of transgender moral panic when people started to get concerned over gender-affirming care for youths with some going as far as to deem it “child abuse^[54]AAMC: What is gender-affirming care? Your questions answered”, there were also rising concerns about “men” (i.e trans women) entering women only spaces in order to assault “real” females.

The flames were stoked by the media who used age old priming and framing techniques to portray all trans people as groomers and trans women as potential rapists while trans men didn’t seem to exist in their little bubble at all.

Due to the media furore surrounding the increased visibility of trans people thanks to their inclusion on TV shows like Laverne Cox^[55]NPR: Laverne Cox: Transgender Actress On The Challenges Of Her ‘New Black’ Role on Orange Is The New Black, anti-trans hate crime rose massively. In the UK in 2016-17 there were 1,073 recorded transgender hate crimes, in 2017-2018 this had risen to 1,944^[56]BBC News: Transgender hate crimes recorded by police go up 81%. By 2023 this figure had risen to a shocking 4,732 recorded incidents^[57]BBC News: Trans hate crime rises 11% in past year in England and Wales. And these are just the reported incidents.

While this rise in anti-trans hate could be due to more people coming forward and reporting incidents against them, it’s a damning indictment of how a portion of the population views transgender people, who are already marginalised in the first place.

Anti-trans media rhetoric has driven a dramatic increase in the adoption of anti-trans laws across a multitude of US states with 549 anti-trans bills across 49 states being enacted in 2023 alone^[58]Scientific American: Anti-Trans Moral Panics Endanger All Young People and the Conservative Party in the UK were considering amending the Equality Act (2010) to define sex as only “biological” sex so it does not matter how a person identifies when it comes to protected characteristics^[59]Independent: What have the Tories announced on sex and gender and what are others saying?. This is despite the fact that most of the general public don’t see trans people as being an issue^[60]Stonewall: What do the British public REALLY think about trans people? and that the politicians are, in a large part, just pandering to an extremely vocal minority.

While politicians and Terfs seem to be afraid of trans-women entering female spaces, it’s actually trans people that are most likely to be the victims of assault. One study found that transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime ^[61]UCLA School Of Law Williams Institute: Transgender people over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime and figures from the UK Prison service show that out of 124 sexual assaults in Women’s prisons between 2010 and 2018, only 7 were carried out by trans women^[62]BBC News: Eleven transgender inmates sexually assaulted in male prisons last year^[63]BBC News: How many transgender inmates are there?.

A study showed that the rates of a trans woman committing a criminal offence was no difference to that of a man^[64]UK Government: Evidence and Data on Trans Women’s Offending Rates^[65]PLOS One: Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden. In other words, if you’re going to be afraid of all trans women, you need to be afraid of all men as well.

But #NotAllMen ^[66]Wikipedia: NotAllMen, just those who have transitioned I guess.

Katy Whitton

Katy is the editor-in-chief of FlippingHeck.com a blog about Self-Improvement, Productivity and Small Business Tips. When she’s not working, she enjoys gaming, making music and Reviewing Things.

www.katywhitton.co.uk