Report cover - Title reads 'The Anti-Trans Disinformation Handbook: A handbook for media, civil society, and Governments for combating anti-trans disinformation.' Logo for Trans Justice Project is on the bottom right. Photo of a trans person sitting on a chair in dark lighting with a lamp on the right. They are holding open a folder with paper and a pen poised looking at the camera.

The Anti-Trans Disinformation Handbook

By , ,

Introduction

The Anti-Trans Disinformation Handbook is for the media, civil society, and Governments for combating anti-trans disinformation.

Trans and gender diverse people deserve the freedom to be themselves, to enjoy the same rights and protections as everyone else, and to feel safe in their communities.

However, in recent years, our community has increasingly become the target of campaigns to erode our rights, our access to health care, and our freedom to live our lives happily and authentically. A major strategy of these campaigns is disinformation.

Disinformation is false information and media, produced with the intention to mislead the reader, often for political purposes. Anti-trans groups spread disinformation about trans and gender diverse people, our health care, and rights in order to sway public opinion and policy against the trans community.

Their goal is to prevent our community from having the freedom to live our lives, and to build popular support for a highly regressive political agenda. Many of the groups involved in anti-trans campaigns are also opposed to reproductive rights, LGBTSBIQA+ equality, and an inclusive society.

Thus, campaigns of disinformation are a threat, not only to trans and gender diverse people, but to rights and freedoms of all people, and a robust democratic society.

This guide aims to give you the information and tools to fight back against anti-trans disinformation by exposing key actors, collating common myths and themes, providing evidence and research, and offering strategies for stopping the spread of anti-trans hate and lies.

In this guide, we focus specifically on disinformation that aims to undermine gender-affirming health care. We have taken this focus because of the central importance of gender-affirming care to the lives of trans and gender diverse people, as well as the sheer volume of disinformation targeted at restricting gender-affirming care.

4 Key Principles for Combating Disinformation

1. Limit the Reach

Ensure as few people as possible see the disinformation and ensure that it doesn’t spread across
platforms. Many anti-trans campaigns stay exclusively on X (formerly Twitter) and do not make
mainstream news sources. Avoid engaging with these micro campaigns to prevent spreading
their influence.

Some steps to limit the reach of a disinformation campaign include:

  • Don’t repeat the opponent’s words
    • Instead tell your positive counternarrative, like ‘Trans people deserve to thrive’.
    • “Not” statements are counterproductive (e.g. Trans people are not sick) because they spread the original claim.
  • Don’t boost the algorithms
    Whatever you fight, you fuel. Think carefully about whether responding to content directly is likely to make the problem worse by driving engagement.
  • Mythbusting is counter-productive
    Research has shown that the tactic of ‘mythbusting’ is at best ineffective, and at worst, actively damaging to our campaigns. Repeating your opponents claims or wording activates their story, essentially reminding your audience of the bad message that you want them to reject. Rather than debunking a myth, it is far more effective to simply say the truth. Our accuracy statements below are an example of this strategy, note that they do not use opponents words or repeat their claims.

These strategies were adapted from a response model developed by Purpose and the Research & Action Hub. We thank and acknowledge them for their contribution to this vital work.

2. Develop Counter-Narratives

Tell your own story, rather than directly responding to the opponent’s claims. Your counter-narratives should appeal to widely held values, have a clear villain or conflict, and centre trans people as actors.

The Center for Story Based Strategy has produced this useful resource to help you construct a powerful counter-narrative.

3. Delegitimize Opponents

Where appropriate directly address actors disseminating a claim to undermine their authority and legitimacy. Particularly for organisations that are presenting themselves as legitimate medical organisations, this can prove highly effective in ensuring their work does not gain mainstream support. Identify the specific actor, what they are doing, their agenda or motivations, and the specific harm it causes.

Choose delegitimization targets carefully as these tactics will inevitably boost their reach.

4. Inoculate Key Audiences

Inoculation strategies aim to expose people to the opponents’ messages in a controlled environment, so that they are more resilient to the myths when they encounter them in the real world.

Typically, you expose participants to your messages, then show them the opponents claims, demonstrate why they are untrue or misleading, and then unpack the agenda and actors behind the claims. This makes people more resilient to pieces of disinformation when they encounter it in the real world.

Further Ways to Support the Trans Community

1. Book in a Disinformation Training

We will train you and your team how to identify anti-trans disinformation, how to use the strategies in this guide, and provide expert advice in implementing them in your organisation. Book your training now

2. Become a Solidarity Member

Solidarity Members are people who support our work by making a monthly donation. Monthly donations help us to plan ahead, be financially independent, and stay effective. Sign up here

3. Invest in Trans Communities

Trans organisations and services are drastically underfunded, especially in remote and regional communities. Consider partnering with local trans justice organisations for fundraisers, hiring them to do training with your staff, or paying them to speak at your events.

4. Develop Plans for How to Address Attacks from Anti-trans Groups

Anti-trans groups are using strategic litigation, exploiting complaints processes, and vicious media campaigns to attack the rights of trans people in the workplace. Being prepared for these attacks before they happen can significantly limit their impact. Introduce a gender affirmation policy, gender affirmation leave, and ensure your bullying policies and code of conduct specifically protect people on the basis of gender identity.

Contents of Report

Contents
Introduction
The Consensus on Trans Health
The Anti-Trans Lobby
Combating Disinformation
Addressing Key Issues and Themes
– 01 Gender-affirming care
– 02 Gender diversity exists around the world
– 03 Detransition and Retransition
– 04 Puberty blockers
– 05 Social Contagion and Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria
– 06 Trans people and autism
– 07 The Cass Review
– 08 Evidence for care is low quality
– 09 Active Watchful Waiting
Further ways to support the trans community
Further Resources
Language
Footnotes

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Download The Anti-Trans Disinformation Handbook from the Trans Justice Project website.

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