Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

History has repeatedly shown that, if you relentlessly (and groundlessly) reduce an entire marginalized group to the status of 'perverts,' 'predators,' and 'pedophiles,' it's only a matter of time before somebody violently acts upon those accusations.

Emmett Till wasn't killed by 'a few bad apples' -- his lynching was the direct result of a longstanding relentless racist smear campaign intended to conflate Black men with 'sexual predators.'

Matthew Shepard wasn't killed by 'a few bad apples' -- his murder was the direct result of a longstanding relentless homophobic smear campaign intended to conflate homosexuals (including lesbians) with 'sexual predators.'

If you brand a marginalized group en masse as 'sexual predators,' eventually someone (or many people) will violently act upon that. It's only a matter of time.

[...]

The only thing that I know for sure is that trans people are way outnumbered, so it's going to take a critical mass of cis people to call bullshit on all these 'trans women = sexual predators' campaigns and pseudo-news stories. Everybody needs to recognize these campaigns for what they are: stochastic terrorism.

Last week, I was mentioned by name in a violent anti-trans manifesto. It sounds surreal to say that out loud, even now, several days out. Part of me is still in shock, while another part of me is not especially surprised. Part of me wants to laugh it off, while another part of me wants to cry. I'm still trying to sort out my own jumbled personal feelings regarding this awful event. But one thing that I know for certain is that every single anti-trans activist who has pushed 'trans women = sexual predators' talking points over the last few years had a hand in this, even if they are reticent to admit it."

-- Julia Serano (JuliaSerano), "On Being Explicitly Named in a Violent 'Gender Critical' Manifesto", 2021-11-08 [bold emphasis in original]