The “transvestigators” of the internet can get very creative with who they target—and their next victims are Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk.
Shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, “speculation” of his and his wife’s gender started to surface. Transvestigation is the act of analyzing people’s body language and physical features to “prove” that celebrities are hiding their “true gender identity,” insinuating that they are trans. There is also a strong basis in pseudosciences, such as phrenology. It most often affects women, including (but certainly not limited to) Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, and recently Hailey Bieber. Transvestigation is truly just a conspiracy-filled outlet for transphobia and sexism.
In this case, transvestigators are leaning heavily into physical characteristics. Posts on X, Facebook, and TikTok have picked apart Erika Kirk’s hips, shoulders, and facial structure. They have also gone for Charlie Kirk’s facial features and Adam’s apple, as well as the way he walked. A Facebook group named “Tranvestigation Disclosure NOW” circulates these thoughts in its over 50,000-strong member base, seeping into the rest of social media and into the mouths of right-wing commentators. Regardless of how baseless the accusations are, the pseudoscientific and hyper-vigilant picking-apart of celebrities is not just a small section of the internet—or of right-wing spheres in general.
Though speculation is floating around, it is safe to say that neither of the Kirks are transgender. Charlie Kirk was vehemently anti-LGBTQ+, including anti-trans, in his “debates.” He used slurs and degrading language often to refer to trans and other LGBTQ+ people. But transvestigators don’t discriminate (well … not more than they want to) against their victims, regardless of political lean. Even Melania Trump’s gender was under scrutiny after seemingly sharing pro-choice and pro-abortion access beliefs, despite being the First Lady to an aggressively anti-trans president.
Transvestigation is clearly based on nothing but conspiracy and gender stereotypes. In a political climate like now, it’s an unfortunate but expected occurrence. Even though Erika Kirk has yet to comment on any of this (and most likely won’t) , pro-LGBTQ+ celebrities like Lady Gaga and Hailey Bieber have stood up to these rumors, and supported trans folks in the process by calling this what it is—blatant transphobia.
Photo credit to Samuel Corum and Getty Images.
