fact finder
Whether about homosexuals, drag queens or trans people: disinformation about queer people is omnipresent on social networks. According to experts, this can have devastating consequences.
“Crazy argument in England: vagina should now be called ‘bonus hole’,” headlines “Bild.de” on July 9th. The article is about the British charity Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, which allegedly proposed renaming the word vagina to “front hole” or “bonus hole” to better reach trans men in cancer screening. Trans man describes a person who was assigned female gender at birth but identifies as male. However, not all trans men undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Many other media took up the topic, and it was also often shared on social networks. A lot of the reports are misleading.
First of all, the proposal from the organization Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust dates back to 2020 and is therefore three years old. It is also a glossary for healthcare professionals performing cervical cancer screening in trans men or non-binary people. The word vagina is not to be substituted, the words “bonus hole” and “front hole” are merely suggested as alternative words – with the addition that it matters which words one prefers to use.
On its website, the organization writes that using the “right language” when talking about someone’s gender identity is a “simple and powerful way to show support and appreciation.”
Rights and TERFs set the mood
But in right-wing circles and among so-called trans-exclusive radical feminists (TERF), there is great outrage. British and German TERF activists consider the proposal “disgusting” and “misogynist”, writing about the “extermination of women”.
Norbert Kleinwaechter, deputy chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, also wrote on Twitter: “Woman with a penis and now a bonus hole. It’s getting crazier in this world of woken trans ideologists.” So-called alternative media are picking up on the subject and creating a mood against trans people. For example, it is said: “Wokeism” is the religion substitute of these days or “repulsive”, who believes “the transgender madness has reached the peak is wrong”, up to “these people” are “severely mentally disturbed”.
Trans people are particularly at the center of disinformation, says Kerstin Thost, spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany (LSVD). “In the past few months, around the debate about the Self-Determination Act, we have seen increased attacks, especially on trans people, not only in Germany but also internationally.” There is an increased mobilization of hate, hate speech and “demonization against LGBTIQ*”. LSBTIQ* stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual and queer people.
Queer people portrayed as abusive towards children
Video of a Pride march in New York also went viral this summer. In the clip, participants can be seen walking through the streets and singing chants. The saying can also be heard: “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for your children” (in German: “We are here, we are queer, we are coming to get your children”) . Anti-queer groups saw their narrative confirmed that queer people were sexually assaulting children.
However, it is not at all clear who calls out the said line in the video. Because the participants who can be seen are clearly singing “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re not going shopping” – which translated means something like: “We are here, we are queer, we are not here to shop”. The line about the kids is only heard from a voice that isn’t in the video and appears to be close to the camera, which is why it’s so present.
Nevertheless, the video reached a large audience and was even distributed in Germany. The former AfD parliamentary group leader in the Berlin House of Representatives, Georg Pazderski, tweeted, for example: “YOU say it yourself quite openly, YOU are after our children.”
With this narrative, the AfD, among others, deliberately creates a mood against queer people. On the occasion of a reading by drag queens for children in Munich, the AfD put up posters with the slogan: “Hands off our children!” – It features a drag queen reaching out for a scared-looking kid.
Argumentation with supposed child protection
Portraying queer people as a threat to child safety is a common disinformation narrative, write Swedish researchers Cecilia Strand and Jakob Svensson in a publication Briefing for the European Parliament. In the education sector in particular, attempts are being made to denigrate sex education, for example by seeing children as victims of indoctrination. “The image of the innocent and vulnerable child appears to be particularly effective in creating a ‘moral panic’.”
This narrative has been used by opponents of equality since the 1970s, says Thost from the LSVD. “Right-wing populists and religious fundamentalists demonize an unexcited and age-appropriate handling of issues of sexual and gender diversity. These campaigns are intended to unsettle parents, children and educators.”
But sexual violence and pedophilia in particular are often associated with queer people by disinformation actors. The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) writes in an analysisthat it even goes so far as to “falsely claim that one of the privileges of belonging to this community is precisely to commit sexual violence, including against children and animals”.
Resistance to alleged “gender ideology”
An alleged “dictatorship” of queer philosophy is another common narrative, according to EDMO. Incorrect or misleading reports, according to which words like mother should be banned – or the example mentioned at the beginning of the alleged renaming of the vagina as “bonus hole” would be used as supposed evidence.
A combat term used in Germany in this regard is “homo- and translobby,” says Thost from the LSVD. “The use of the term ‘lobby’ manipulates through associations with influence, lack of transparency and conspiracy. Claims for equal treatment and recognition are to be warded off with it.”
Svensson and Strand also write in their briefing that the most common narratives include negative heteronomy or resistance to a supposed “gender ideology”. Religious motives such as the restoration of the “natural order” and the protection of the “natural” family also played a role.
Who is spreading the disinformation?
According to Svensson and Strand, the disinformation actors are a complex, international network, ranging from families to anti-abortion groups, religious conservatives, nationalists and far-right groups.
In Germany, disinformation about queer people is most often spread by right-wing conservative to right-wing extremist groups and parties, but also by fundamental religious organizations, says Thost. They would try to address people “who have not yet clearly positioned themselves against the acceptance of LGBTIQ* and are unsure – that is, people who have little or no contact with openly living LGBTIQ*”. These are often more receptive to ideologies of inequality.
However, the disinformation catches on in a broad middle of society and is further spread by them, for example via social networks. This contributes to an anti-queer breeding ground in society as a whole, which can also lead to hate crimes against the LGBTIQ* community.
Steady rise anti-queer Violence
The number of registered cases of hate crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people as well as queer people has been increasing steadily since they began being recorded in 2001. alone in last year the police registered more than 1,400 crimes. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 1,005 crimes fall into the “sexual orientation” category, 227 of which are violent crimes. 417 other cases were assigned to the topic “gender diversity”, 82 of which are violent crimes. Since 2018, the number of crimes recorded has increased by almost 200 percent.
These figures only show the actions that are reported and properly registered. However, according to various experts, the number of unreported cases is very high. So goes from the current Annual Report of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) revealed that around 90 percent of incidents in Germany go unreported.
One representative survey by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency from 2020 supports this and comes to the conclusion that only 13 percent of those questioned who were affected by the incidents reported it to the police.
But it is not only the low willingness of those affected to report crimes that leads to the high number of unreported cases. According to the study, deficits in the investigative process and incomplete statistical recording are also part of the problem “Queer-hostile hate crime in Germany” by Sarah Ponti. “There are glaring gaps in research regarding the extent, forms and backgrounds of anti-queer violence and how security authorities and the judiciary deal with these manifestations of hate crime.”
“Words can become deeds”
LGBTIQ* are still a vulnerable social group, says Sven Lehmann, the federal government’s queer commissioner. “There are also increasing attacks within the framework of CSDs. Fueled by targeted campaigns, violence is directed against visible queer life and is intended to intimidate LGBTIQ*.”
Thost also observes a “backlash” as a reaction to past political successes for the human rights of queer people. More visibility does not necessarily mean more security. “The targeted spread of disinformation about our community shows us that we are still not accepted as a completely natural part of society. Our existence is defamed as unbelievable and questioned.”
This ensures that queer people feel insecure in public discourse, but also in public space. “Words can become deeds. Just the sight of a drag queen, a trans person or a lesbian or gay couple can motivate violent criminals to hit them brutally. If before every amorous look, before a hug, before a kiss in public space, the environment is first checked must be done, that is a significant restriction of freedom,” says Thost.