Feds Disappear Trans People from “LGBT”
Intel reports on threats to Pride events reveal campaign to stamp out the word “transgender”
The Trump administration’s war on diversity has a new casualty, removing the “T” (for “transgender”) from “LGBT” in its internal threat reports, according to copies I’ve obtained.
Two federal intelligence reports warning of threats to Pride Day events in June make repeated reference to the dangers to the “LGB+ community” with no mention whatsoever of transgender people. This comes amid the Trump administration’s campaign to capitalize on the death of Charlie Kirk to wage war on transgender suspects as “nihilist violent extremists.”
The sad irony here is that transgender people suffer the highest rate of hate crimes of any group within the LGBT community, underscoring how strange it is to omit them from reports intended to enhance public safety.
Adoption of the “LBG+” acronym has been observed in several other federal agencies since Trump took office, including, as I reported at the time, the State Department. The use of the term by the national security state has not been previously reported.
Commenting on the removal of references to transgender people on the National Park Service’s official website earlier this year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the move as “cruel and petty,” adding: “Transgender people play a critical role in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights — and New York will never allow their contributions to be erased.”
Apparently the governor does not know the ways of the national security state. Multiple New York law enforcement agencies are coauthors of the main intelligence report I obtained, an overview of threats to Pride events in New York across the country.
“The threat of violence against the LGB+ community and Pride events primarily stems from ideologically motivated lone offenders or small groups of individuals with anti-LGB+ grievances,” the report begins. “According to NYPD [New York Police Department], several acts of violence and intimidation targeting the LGB+ community have occurred over the past several years in the NYC area.”
The 11-page threat report covers everything from suicide drone attacks and improvised explosive devicess, sketching out the dangers to “LGB+” people, gay couples, Hispanic people, Jewish people, Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, South Asians, Middle Easterners. Even Luigi Mangione makes an appearance! But nowhere in the entire report are transgender people mentioned — again, the highest risk group in the LGBT community.
What’s striking is not the content of the threat warnings themselves — which echo years of law enforcement bulletins — but the terminology. At every turn, the reports describe the danger to the “LGB+ community.” Transgender people are written out entirely.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard expressed opposition to transgenderism in August, calling the “belief that any man can become a woman, and any woman can become a man” a “manifestation of their darkness and desire to be God…”
From Trump’s first term through Biden, agencies used “LGBT” or even longer formulations like “LGBTQIA+” in their threat products. These and other documents were provided to me by the transparency nonprofit Property of the People, which obtained them under open records requests.
“This hateful crusade has been in motion for months, long before Charlie Kirk’s killing became the feeble pretext for its escalation,” Property of the People’s executive director Ryan Shapiro told me.
As late as January 24 of this year, four days into Trump’s administration, the “LGBTQIA” acronym was still being used, as seen in an intelligence report produced by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
But by May, the same agency had dropped the acronym , according to another report about the potential for a terror attack targeting Pride Month in general.
“Violent extremists motivated by a range of anti-LGB+ grievances probably view upcoming Pride events in the Homeland as potential targets for attacks,” the report begins.
Referencing far-flung groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, the report is brimming with tactical advice, proposing moves like “monitoring for pre-operational surveillance by threat actors,” “sweeps of event sites for abandoned containers” and even “public awareness campaigns” — but not once are trans people mentioned.
Disclaimers appear in the documents about the national security state’s painstaking efforts to respect the civil liberties of people’s “race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex,” and on and on. The FBI could start by getting its terminology right (perhaps with one of their public awareness campaigns?)
According to advocacy organizations like GLAAD and Stonewall, the term LGBTQ+ is the term preferred by the community.
— Edited by William M. Arkin
Great work as always Ken. Happy to finally be a subscriber (side note, substack makes it as difficult as possible to sub on mobile.)
And “manifestation of their darkness and desire to be God…” is actually pretty fucking dope in my opinion? Yes, I am god, I have participated in my own creation. Are you jealous, Tulsi? 🏳️⚧️
Wow, way to divide the LGBTQIA community. Such a powerful community when standing together. Look how they changed the world with the AIDS crisis in the 80s. Any knife to the heart of a community is MAGA's jam. Who's next because someone will be.