On Thursday, the Trans Radical Activist Network (TRAN) announced the cancellation of its planned Trans Day of Vengeance rally in Washington, DC due to a “credible threat to life and safety” caused by the social media reactions to the event’s name. The group had organized the rally to take place outside the US Supreme Court on Saturday.
Our Rights DC, which co-organized the Trans Day of Vengeance rally with the Trans Radical Activist Network (TRAN), took to Twitter to say, “This action will not be taking place Saturday due to a credible threat to life and safety. The safety of our trans community is first priority. This threat is the direct result of the flood of raw hatred directed toward the trans community after the Tennessee shooting.”
Following the deadly shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville on Monday, during which a woman who claimed to be transgender killed three children and three adults, Our Rights DC asserted that transgender individuals were at risk of “genocide.”
They made the following statement, “Individuals who had nothing to do with that heinous act have been subjected to highly serious threats and blamed only because of their gender identity. This is one of the steps in genocide, and we will continue our efforts to protect trans lives.”
“While we wholeheartedly believe in the mission and message we put forth for Trans Day of Vengeance, we must prioritize the safety of our community and the people that make it up. In an ideal world, we would have continued on in defiance of the attempt to silence our right to free expression. However, we lack the resources to ensure the safety of the protest and cannot in good conscience move forward with it,” they said.
The organizers of the canceled Trans Day of Vengeance rally maintained that despite the rally’s potentially misleading name, the term “Trans Day of Vengeance” is a long-standing meme within the transgender community and was not meant to incite any acts of violence.
TRAN, the group that organized the canceled Trans Day of Vengeance rally in Washington, DC, has emphasized that the event was meant to promote unity and was not intended to incite violence.
“Trans Day of Vengeance” has been cancelled due to threats. Imagine using the word “vengeance” and posting pictures on line of the alphabet people holding guns, and then claiming you’re the victim. 🙄 https://t.co/qsrLN0u00T
— Storm Nicole ⛈ (@boxersforlife) March 31, 2023
The group stated on its website that it does not condone violence and that it has plans to hold another rally in the future with a more appropriate name.
