{"id":255661,"date":"2025-09-26T08:08:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T08:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/255661\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T08:08:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T08:08:18","slug":"phoenix-lgbtq-community-remains-fearful-after-increased-anti-transgender-rhetoric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/255661\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix LGBTQ+ community remains fearful after increased anti-transgender rhetoric"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mia Inez Adams, 66, poses for a portrait in front of the \u201cRelease the Fear\u201d melted-weapons sculpture Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Phoenix. The statue, created by Robert John Miley, is made of confiscated weapons intended to raise awareness of gun violence. (Photo by Lorenzo Gomez\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2013 Word spread fast of a shooting threat made toward Cruisin\u2019 7th, a gay bar located just outside the Melrose District<\/a> \u2014 an area with a high concentration of LGBTQ+ businesses. Mia Inez Adams, 66, was one of the first to receive the news the afternoon of Sept. 17 after a friend shared a statement from Phoenix PD<\/a>. Without hesitation, the long-time performer and resident of Phoenix leaped into action to inform her community.<\/p>\n

The suspect, Treven Michael Gokey, 49, was upset by political events and wanted to \u201csend a message to the far left,\u201d police said. <\/p>\n

\u201cRadical left violence breeds a far-right response,\u201d Gokey told police, specifically citing incidents such as Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination and a recent shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, according to court documents. \u201cTransgenderism should be eradicated from public society.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The threat did not come as a surprise in Phoenix\u2019s LGBTQ+ community. Since Kirk\u2019s assassination, the community has felt beleaguered in the face of increased rhetoric online and from political leaders around the country who many believe have used the killing to engender hostility against them, and the trans community in particular. Some have even hired private security at their businesses.<\/p>\n

Some of Gokey\u2019s comments to police echoed language used by some conservative pundits and Republican leaders since Kirk\u2019s killing. Gokey told officers that he wasn\u2019t happy to harm people but that he felt it was necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlie Kirk was a martyr,\u201d he told police according to court documents, adding that he wanted to be a martyr for Kirk.<\/p>\n

Just two days later at a memorial for Kirk, President Donald Trump praised the slain activist as a \u201cgreat American hero\u201d and \u201cour greatest evangelist for American liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a martyr now for American freedom,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Adams, who is a transgender woman, says she is not surprised by the threats. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the low-hanging fruit,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re an easy target.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sentiments rouse old feelings for Adams, who lived through a time when police raids on LGBTQ+ bars were common and targeted violence was to be expected. <\/p>\n

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The entrance to the Melrose District, an area with a high concentration of LGBTQ+ businesses, is shown Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Phoenix. The one-mile stretch is also known as \u201cthe curve\u201d for its unique bend in an otherwise grid-style city. (Photo by Lorenzo Gomez\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n

\u201cI experienced things that I thought I would never experience again, but I can see the potential of it happening. I can see things ramping up,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom the moment Charlie Kirk was shot, the immediate response was retaliation.\u201d <\/p>\n

The threat rattled the typically vibrant community where, nearby just days later, tens of thousands of people from around the country \u2013 including the president and some of the biggest names in conservative media \u2013 gathered for Kirk\u2019s memorial to mourn the conservative activist and media personality\u2019s death. Early reports<\/a> following his assassination from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives suggested that ammunition used to kill Kirk was engraved with \u201ctransgender and anti-fascist ideology.\u201d <\/p>\n

Authorities later found that Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect charged in Kirk\u2019s death<\/a>, planned the attack out of anger for Kirk\u2019s anti-trans stances<\/a>. Robinson had a transgender partner to whom he sent incriminating messages, officials said<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had enough of this hatred,\u201d he wrote, according to officials<\/a>. \u201cSome hate can\u2019t be negotiated.\u201d <\/p>\n

Since Kirk\u2019s death last week, many prominent conservative figures have made comments condemning transgender people. A video of South Carolina representative Nancy Mace<\/a> showed her attacking the trans community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the most egregious most vile, violent people on earth,\u201d she said during a press availability.<\/p>\n

Texas congressman and former White House physician Ronny Jackson said transgender people are a \u201cgroup of domestic terrorists,\u201d in a TV interview with NewsMax<\/a>. He said gender dysphoria<\/a>, a psychiatric diagnosis listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, should require inpatient mental health treatment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to treat these people. We have to get them off the streets, and we have to get them off the internet, and we can\u2019t let them communicate with each other,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m all about free speech, but this is a virus, this is a cancer that\u2019s spreading across this country.<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice is exploring legal paths to restrict gun access for transgender individuals<\/a>. The decision to do so came after a shooting last month<\/a> at a Catholic school in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured 21 others, where the perpetrator, 23-year-old Robin Westman, was allegedly transgender. After reviewing the suspect\u2019s journal entries, however, authorities said the attack may have stemmed from Westman\u2019s struggles with mental health, which ended in a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound.<\/p>\n

According to data collected by PolitiFact<\/a>, there is no evidence that transgender people are more prone to carrying out gun violence. A 2023 FBI report<\/a> showed that only one of 49 active shooter incidents was carried out by a transgender individual. <\/p>\n

An analysis from the Williams Institute<\/a> at UCLA suggests that transgender people are more likely to be victims of gun violence.<\/p>\n

Moments before Kirk\u2019s assassination, the conservative activist was fielding a question about transgender Americans culpability in mass shootings over the last decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But, the discourse about who is responsible for perpetuating the violence causes more harm than good, said 19-year-old ASU student Parker Powley. Powley, a trans woman and the facilitator of operations for Rainbow Coalition at ASU, said the frustration extends past just one issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this rhetoric really just shifts the anger and frustration people feel from the struggles of their day-to-day life to a group that already suffers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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A pride flag is displayed outside of a coffee shop in the Melrose District on Wednesday, Sept 24, 2025, in Phoenix. (Photo by Lorenzo Gomez\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n

Powley said she has been harassed, seen her friends threatened and even worried for their lives. Violence hurts everyone, she said, and believes LGBTQ+ people are usually the ones who bear the brunt of that pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one should face that violence, but really, the people that violence always affects most are the most marginalized,\u201d Powley said. <\/p>\n

Adams believes the increased anti-transgender attitudes are about garnering support and creating unity on the right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can make you hate the same people I hate, then it\u2019s easier for me to sway you in other decisions as well,\u201d she said. \u201cSo if we all have a commonality or a common enemy, then it makes it appear as if you\u2019re on my side.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Powley, she hopes that the rhetoric, although demoralizing, is temporary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be able to emerge more publicly and more visibly,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd show people that we are here and we belong here just as much as they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Wednesday\u2019s threats against Cruisin\u2019 7th, Adams is urging people in her community to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings. She noted that she has refused to drink during her shows over the last couple of weeks. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want something to occur that I\u2019m not aware of is happening, and then it\u2019s too late,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although she said fear is ruminating among the Phoenix LGBTQ+ community, she hopes it can be used to their benefit. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think fear is an emotion that is taught, or is given to us, to be aware,\u201d she said. \u201cUtilize that fear. Let that fear turn into your strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Myers contributed to this story.<\/p>\n