At a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon on Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he will award right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Kirk was assassinated less than 24 hours earlier at Utah Valley University while speaking on conservative talking points to a crowd.
The 31-year-old conservative commentator is best known for founding Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that sought to build a robust conservative youth movement. He earned notoriety for his unwavering loyalty to Trump, his advocacy of expansive Second Amendment rights, and his opposition to LGBTQ rights. Conservatives and far-right supporters have quickly elevated Kirk to martyr status since his death.
“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans feel at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty, and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.”
As of now, there is no indication when the award ceremony will take place, although Trump said “I can only guarantee you one thing, that we will have a very big crowd.”
Many credit Kirk with helping Trump return to the White House in 2024 by mobilizing young voters — particularly young men — on behalf of the twice-impeached president.
Kirk’s stance against LGBTQ rights was a central part of his political brand.
A staunch opponent of Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling requiring states to recognize same-sex marriage, Kirk often used incendiary rhetoric, at times calling for the erosion of LGBTQ rights altogether.
As host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” on the Salem Radio Network, he frequently denounced transgender participation in sports, referring to trans people and their supporters as “sick.” He also suggested they should be “taken care of like how things in the 1950s and 60s” were — an allusion many critics interpreted as a reference to lobotomies, shock therapy, and forced institutionalization.
Kirk often framed his views through the lens of “Christian values.”
On his YouTube channel, he invoked biblical passages, at one point citing Leviticus 20:13 to claim that the Bible’s call for the stoning of gay men reflected “God’s perfect law.”
The Washington Blade contacted several LGBTQ advocacy organizations for comment on Trump’s decision to posthumously honor Kirk, a man widely criticized for his hostility toward the LGBTQ community. Many focused instead on condemning the violence that ended his life.
“Political violence is unacceptable and has no place in this country,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in an emailed statement. “We cannot ever accept this epidemic of gun violence as normal. We cannot keep living like this.”
Kristen Browde, president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, which has 21 chapters across the state, making it one of the largest LGBTQ caucuses in the nation, echoed those sentiments while pointing to the consequences of Kirk’s rhetoric.
“Political violence, for any reason, is wrong. Gun violence, for any reason, is wrong. Spending your life, inciting violence, demonizing political opponents? Attacking those who are different? Every bit as wrong. And when violence follows such actions? One can’t be shocked. All you can do is recommit yourself to fight against it.”
According to videos — and witnesses at Utah Valley University, Kirk was shot seconds after beginning to answer a question about how many”transgender” people were responsible for “mass shootings,” where he answered “too many.”
As of Thursday evening, Kirk’s killer remained at large. The FBI has identified a person of interest in its investigation and is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.