Trans people already fighting for rights in Tennessee have a new fear in the wake of a tragedy

As Tennesseewas mourning those killed in a mass shooting at a Christian school this week, speculation about the killer's gender identity was quickly weaponized in an ongoing battle against transgender and LGBTQ rights.

Police killed the shooter approximately 14 minutes after a 911 call from The Covenant School in Nashville, where three nine-year-old and threeschool staff memberswere gunned downMonday morning.

Speaking with media hours later, Nashville's police chief said the killer, Audrey Hale, was transgender and suggested the 28-year-old's gender identity may have some connection to a motive and a purported manifesto left behind.The shooter's gender identity has never been verified and police have not said more about it.

But some right-wing groups, media outlets, politicians and commentators quickly seized on the shooter's gender identity, inflaming already contentious debates.

It all comes at a time when Tennessee and other states are enacting laws directly aimed at the LGBTQ community most specifically target transgender people and amid a tide of hateful rhetoric and protests. There are fears the situationmayget worse if the shooting is used as a catalyst to advance legislation seen as taking away the rights of transgender and other LGBTQ people.

The LGBTQcommunityin Nashville ismourning the victims like everyone else, said Chris Sanders,the executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, noting that many people have connections to the tragedy.

"In Tennessee, we've already lost so much because of the shooting, and it's horribleto contemplate the spiral we might be about to enter," hetold CBC News.

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Tennessee laws target transgender people

Sander has been working for the Tennessee Equality Project for the past 10 yearsandhad previously volunteered with the groupfor a decade. But this year has already been the worst he's seen in terms ofthe state legislature introducing bills aimed at rolling backLGBTQ rights.

One of several laws brought forward in Tennessee this year had been slated to go intoeffect Saturday, before afederal judge temporarily blocked itjust hours before it was set to go into effect. The law wouldplacea range of restrictions on drag performancesin public or in the presence of children.

Tennessee is one of dozens of states where more than 400 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation have been introduced thisyear, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

These bills and laws target everything from access to gender-affirming care, to gender expression, inclusive education, the involvement of transgender people in sports and access to public spaces such as bathrooms.

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Drag performer Steve Raimo says the purpose of Tennessee's new anti-drag law is to silence and erase people like him but it's not going to work. "I'm sorry to tell you, but there isn't a piece of legislation that's going to stop me from being who I am," he told As It Happens host Nil Kksal.

Fear of repercussions

Sanders said it's unclear right now if the discussion of the shooter'sgender identity will have any sort of implications on the LGBTQ community, or on bills that are still advancing in the state legislature.

But there is an "incredible escalation of the fear factor" about whether transgender people will face some form of retaliation for the killer's actions, said Marisa Richmond, a Nashville resident and a gender studies and history professor at Middle Tennessee State University in nearby Murfreesboro.

She said some events planned for Friday'sInternational Day of Transgender Visibility werepostponed out of grief and respect for the lives lost, but also out due to security concerns.

"I understand why some people may be reluctant to put themselves out in a very visible way given the general mood that exists right now," Richmondsaid.

Trans people a 'scapegoat'

Since Monday's tragedy, some anti-transgender rhetoric has surfacedonline and in the media.

The headline"Transgender Killer Targets Christian School" wassplashed on the front page of theNew York Post's Tuesday edition. Influential Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson said on his Tuesday night broadcastthat the trans movement "is the natural enemy" of Christianity. He also claimed there was "a rise in trans terrorism."

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, demanded to know "how much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness" the shooter may have been taking.

It's not clear if Hale was undergoing gender-affirming therapy involving hormonesand there is no evidence to conclude hormone replacement therapy led to the mass murder in Nashville.

This type of discussion serves to both deflect from the issue of gun control and to use a marginalized group of people as a "scapegoat," said Brynn Tannehill, a writer on LGBTQ issues who is based in theWashington, D.C. area.

"[People are]trying to frame it as a trans issue and get us to debate whether transgender people are dangerous," said Tannehill,who also has a background in counterterrorism analysis.

"Republicans have always sought to look for some other reason, besides ready access to high-power assault rifles, as the reason for particularly deadly mass shootings."

An analysis from the Violence Project found the overwhelming majority of killers involved in mass shootings nearly 98 per cent are men who are not transgender.

Transgender people aremuch more likely to bethe victims of violencecompared to the general population, according to organizations likethe Human Rights Campaign.

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This week, the world witnessed yet another mass shooting at a school in the U.S. Three 9-year-old students and three staff members were killed. Andrew Chang discusses how this school shooting in particular has been politicized by some lawmakers.

Focus on gun control to protect kids

Tannehill, Sanders and Richmond all agree the focus should be on fixing gun legislation rather than imposing laws on transgender and other LGBTQ people under the auspices of protecting children.

"If you want to protect children, that's where you really start, and [politicans] aren't doing that," said Richmond.

Various analyses of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) demonstrate firearms-related incidents including both suicides and homicides are among the leading causes of death forchildren and teenagers.

While Nashvilleis collectively dealing with the grief of Monday's shooting, Sanders said he's also heard "a great deal of pain and fear" from the parents of LGBTQ youth dealing with two situations affecting their children.

"I wish I could say I thought that was going to go away soon, but I don't," he said.

What young LGBTQ people need right now, he said, is to see the parents and other adults in their lives standing up for their rights, safety and existence.