Nashville shooter's mixed-up transgender identity sends shockwaves through the ... trends now

Nashville shooter's mixed-up transgender identity sends shockwaves through the ... trends now
Nashville shooter's mixed-up transgender identity sends shockwaves through the ... trends now

Nashville shooter's mixed-up transgender identity sends shockwaves through the ... trends now

The trans shooter who killed six people at a Nashville school has sent shockwaves through the transgender community, raising tough questions about militancy and mental health problems among the marginalized group.

Since Audrey 'Aiden' Hale rampaged through The Covenant School on Monday, murdering three children and three adults, investigators and analysts have looked at her trans identity, and how this may have played a role in the bloodbath.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters of a 'theory' that Hale, a biological woman who had recently started using 'he/him' pronouns and the moniker 'Aiden,' had launched the attack as a manifestation of her shifting gender identity.

Hale, 28, was heavily armed when she fatally shot three children and three adult staffers at the private Christian elementary school she once attended in Tennessee's capital city, before herself being shot and killed by officers.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. Hale had drawn detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building, and left behind a 'manifesto' and other writings that detectives were studying, Drake added.

Audrey 'Aiden' Hale in a recent LinkedIn photo. The shooter left a manifesto describing her plans

Audrey 'Aiden' Hale in a recent LinkedIn photo. The shooter left a manifesto describing her plans

A patch on the backpack of a trans rights activist at a protest in Boston. Some trans activists say their community is under attack and that they need to defend themselves, including with arms, against a purported 'genocide'

A patch on the backpack of a trans rights activist at a protest in Boston. Some trans activists say their community is under attack and that they need to defend themselves, including with arms, against a purported 'genocide'

Maya 'Alec' McKinney, who took part in a shooting at a Denver, Colorado, school in May 2019

Snochia Moseley, who killed three at a Rite Aid warehouse in Aberdeen, Maryland, in September 2018

The Nashville attack has drawn parallels to other shootings by young female-to-male transitioners: Maya 'Alec' McKinney (left), who took part in a shooting at a Denver, Colorado, school in May 2019, and Snochia Moseley, who killed three at a Rite Aid warehouse in Aberdeen, Maryland, in September 2018

A doctor had been treating her for an 'emotional disorder,' Drake said on Tuesday. Despite the 'he/him' pronouns, Hale is most often described as a female who was in a provisional stage of gender transition.

Hale was at odds with her devout Christian parents, Church coordinator Norma, 61, and her husband Ronald, 64, because they 'couldn't accept' she was gay and trans, a source told DailyMail.com.

The attack quickly spawned a debate between conservatives and trans activists.  

Tennessee Republican representative Tim Burchett called for Hale's manifesto to be made public, telling Fox News that 'We need to know what was going through this person's head.'

'Our trans youth are troubled,' said Burchett. 'If they don't get the help they need, they can grow up to have some serious issues, but I obviously don't believe they'll all grow up to be shooters like this.'

The shooting has raised questions about the drugs used in sex-reassignment treatment and mental health conditions that are widespread in the trans community, and drawn parallels to other attacks by young female-to-male transitioners.

They include Maya 'Alec' McKinney, who took part in a shooting at a Denver, Colorado, school in May 2019, and Snochia Moseley, who killed three at a Rite Aid warehouse in Aberdeen, Maryland, in September 2018.

'Our trans youth are troubled,' says Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett

'Our trans youth are troubled,' says Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett

Prominent members of America's trans community took to social media to stress that Hale's suspected killing spree was more clearly linked to the availability of guns than anything to do with her gender identity or politics.

They were pushing back at claims from right-wing commentators that the violence was a symptom of an increasingly radicalized trans community that was embracing terror tactics in a push against mainstream gender ideas.

'When hundreds of white men commit mass shootings, it's a 'societal problem,' but when one trans person commits a mass shooting, it's a 'trans problem',' posted Alejandra Caraballo, a male-to-female trans clinical instructor at Harvard Law School,

'The actual problem is that this country is unable to do anything at all to stop gun violence.'

Transgender activists, like these protesters in London earlier this year, take an increasingly hard-line stance against efforts to restrict access to sports, bathrooms and sex-reassignment treatments, which they frequently describe as a 'genocide' against them

Transgender activists,

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