Author: Cameron O’Boyle

Narratives surrounding transgender (trans) identities in the political sphere have become increasingly conflicting in recent years. This can be attributed to the role of the media in portraying trans individuals as ‘other’ – a threat to the average person. Despite making up just 0.5% of the UK population, the trans community faces relentless media abuse. To reduce polarisation, media coverage must be balanced, accurate, and fair.

Delegitimising Rhetoric

The delegitimisation of trans identities portrayed through the media contributes to harmful rhetoric that affects their perceived legitimacy. Billard’s content analysis of articles between 2004 and 2013 revealed 14.2% of paragraphs contained misgendering, mischaracterisations and slurs. Such delegitimising language in the media hinders the political process, negatively shaping public opinion: “Language constructs, affirms, and invalidates identities”.

Additionally, the media’s lack of coverage or invisibility of trans people, coined as symbolic annihilation, has harmful implications; implying trans people don’t exist or aren’t worthy of being in conversations diminishes their identities to the public.

Social Media

Social media is not a monolithic force but a complex ecosystem that significantly drives various aspects of the transgender experience. While the erasure of trans identities stands true and remains harmful, the rise of social media and far-right content has thrust trans identities to the forefront of the political landscape, with echo chambers contributing to cycles of toxic content that negatively impacts public opinion on trans identities and their safety.

Echo chambers insulate users from opposing viewpoints, allowing fearmongering and misinformation to flourish. As extremist views take hold, entire segments of society develop hostile attitudes toward trans people, dismissing trans issues as fabricated. The virality of such content, driven by algorithmic amplification, ensures that harmful narratives reach mass audiences.

While social media narratives significantly drive polarisation around trans issues, it is also a unique space for trans individuals to express their identity, finding communities online with access to advice and resources, empowering individuals to understand their identity and seek support. Social media is a vital support tool for trans individuals, reinforcing the need to combat online polarisation.

Theoretical Explanations

While online echo chambers reinforce users’ existing ideologies, there are also deeply rooted societal and psychological factors that drive anti-trans sentiment. Throughout history, hostility towards ‘outgroups’ has been a consistent pattern. Abbink and Harris’ study demonstrates how ‘out-groups’ perceived as psychological threats are subjected to heightened hostility.

Social Identity Theory extends this: individuals derive a sense of identity and self-esteem from group membership, leading to ingroup favouritism and outgroup discrimination.

Realistic Conflict Theory explains that such hostility emerges from perceived competition over tangible or symbolic resources, including safety, political influence, and cultural dominance.

Such theories illuminate how sociological and psychological mechanisms intersect to form prejudice and hostility. An individual may perceive certain outgroups (in this case, trans people) as a threat to their norms and values; they engage with their ingroup for affirmation and security.

As trans individuals are a small minority, they are rendered vulnerable to larger ‘ingroups’ who may react negatively towards them as they become symbolic targets for broader ideological issues, pushing narratives and engaging in discourse that exaggerates individuals’ existing ideological opinions, further deepening polarisation.

‘Trans Train’ Case Study

Pang et al. engage with discourse surrounding the media’s influence on trans issues. They use a Swedish case study analysing the aftermath of a prominent documentary portraying trans youth seeking medical care in a negative light, interviewing individuals who have since detransitioned. This resulted in a social media spectacle, causing a sharp drop in parents assisting their gender-dysphoric children to seek care, showing that media narratives directly impact opinion on trans issues, resulting in harmful real-life implications for trans individuals.

It is the normalisation of trans identities in society that ultimately impacts polarisation around trans issues; leveraging social media as a tool for positive change rather than a tool to spread dangerous narratives further normalises the trans experience in society.

Moving Forward: How can we challenge media-driven polarisation?

There is an emphasis on the issue of framing around trans issues in media stories, for example: trans women are frequently sexualised; media reports and social media clickbait reduce them to sexual objects. To counteract negative framing, emphasis on accurate language in the media, such as actively avoiding harmful tropes such as oversexualisation and misgendering, should be addressed.

This requires tackling sensationalist reporting that exploits transgender identity as a shock tactic for political gain. Far-right outlets often highlight alleged crimes by trans people in public spaces, such as bathrooms, without verifying any information prior.

Fox News played 88 segments about an alleged assault by a ‘trans’ student in a Virginia school bathroom, however, they misrepresented crucial details of the story to demonise trans identities.

So, how can these suggestions match realistic targets? Accountability for harmful narratives can be enforced through legislation such as the EU’s Digital Service Act (DSA), which aims to make the internet safer by overseeing content moderation practices by imposing stricter moderation standards and fines for repeated misinformation. This shifts responsibility onto platforms to disrupt echo chambers and prevent anti-trans rhetoric from spreading.

Under DSA, the distinction between what is illegal and what is harmful content is unclear, thus causing inconsistent application. DSA face criticism for breaching freedom of speech; the ‘over-removal’ of content raises concerns of censorship and privatised content control.

To address this, future legislation could better differentiate illegal and harmful content, adopting different regulatory approaches for each issue. If abuse of trans individuals is deemed illegal rather than merely harmful, this would provide them with protection

These solutions are inherently complex, especially across national borders with varying values and levels of social media restriction. Reducing polarisation around transgender issues requires more than just media regulation; it demands a shift in societal understandings of marginalised identities. Campaigning for trans rights and challenging harmful narratives to help recognise the deeper roots of such prejudice is an important step towards an informative social media rather than a divisive one.