Inoculate yourself and our movements against anti-trans disinfo and new forms of climate denial through ‘prebunking’ comics, TikTok vids, and drinking games.
Part One: Anti-Trans Disinfo Creeping on Climate Justice Spaces | Part Two: Manufacturing Doubt and the Case of Environmental ‘Progress’ | Part Three: Deceleration Guide to Anti-Trans & Anti-Climate Disinformation
Marisol Cortez
Save your breath and energy: disrupting disinformation is less about fact checking in real time or arguing with deniers, more about “prebunking”—inoculating ordinary folks against common talking points and tactics in advance so as to render them dead on arrival. This is especially important given that disinformation peddlers—especially those linked to anti-LGBTQ movements and climate denial—often use the language of science and reason to further the aims of reactionary movements, as it’s the best way for them to sow confusion and manufacture doubt about the actual scientific consensus.
But how can we prebunk at the grassroots level, preparing our communities to recognize and resist common forms of disinformation? And how can we incorporate prebunking work as a key part of organizing for environmental and climate justice?
Comic books, DIY flyers, Tiktok videos, and games, to start! Here we compile some useful resources you can use with family, friends, and community for prebunking new forms of climate denial and its increasing convergence with anti-LGBTQ disinformation.
This resource page is a work in progress. If you know of other helpful resources we might add to this page, please send them to editor@deceleration.news!
Getting ‘Cranky’ with Climate Disinformation
Some of the most interesting resources for pre-bunking climate denial take the form of online games and visual media rather than fact sheets or explainers. Here are a few we particularly enjoy:
“Cranky Uncle,” an app for mobile developed by University of Melbourne cognitive scientist John Cook, gamifies testing and strengthening your immunity to the conspiracy thinkers in your life.
While still a little text heavy, Céline Keller’s comic adaptation of the classic prebunking study “Discourses of Climate Delay” is a fun intro to the many shades of new denial promulgated by corporate and governmental foot draggers. See especially the denialist bingo at the end!
Abbie Richards, aka @Tofology, is the go-to disinfo researcher for Gen Z; see her TikTok prebunking videos here and links here.
@tofology An abridged version of my workshop at #AspenIdeasClimate #MiamiBeach
♬ original sound – Abbie Richards
In the mood for voluminous reading? See the Climate Clarity Hub, a project of the EU Disinfo Lab, which serves as a clearinghouse on global climate disinfo actors and efforts in compiling articles, studies, podcasts, and webinars.
And, for pre-bunking climate disinfo in Spanish-speaking communities, our Latine Voices for Democracy compañeres Factchequeado is a great resource.
A Handy Dandy Cheat Sheet for Recognizing Common Anti-LGBTQ Disinfo
Everyone knows the Proud Boys are a bunch of ‘phobes. But what about that latest NYT piece on the dangers of puberty blockers, forwarded by your essential oil-loving uncle? Or the radical feminist friend who thinks transition is the epitome of internalized misogyny and capitalist individualism?
Especially when it comes to trans health care, anti-LGBTQ movements often take advantage of people’s lack of familiarity with queer and trans lives, laundering far right disinformation and conspiracy theory as rational concern or science-based skepticism, often framed as “just asking questions” or fostering good faith “debate” between “both sides.” Talking points based on laundered disinfo then become state policy, providing legal justification for restricting the access of LGBTQ people—especially trans people—-to public life and even physical existence.
When an armed alliance of fascist and religious right groups protested outside a drag show in downtown San Antonio in December 2022, an ad hoc group of organizers calling themselves Queer Joy SA met the threat with a raucous counterprotest that far outnumbered the fascists both in bodies and joy. As part of their preparation for these efforts, Queer Joy organizers also developed the following resource guide for helping our friends, family, and community pre-bunk increasingly common anti-LGBTQ talking points.
Below, we reproduce the content of this flyer and also embed a printable PDF version for community use. A version for use in Spanish-speaking communities is in development; Factchequeado also serves as a good resource.
As with climate disinformation, the purpose here is not primarily to provide counterpoints for debunking—in large part because there’s nothing more disinfo purveyors crave more than to stage a “debate” to legitimate their efforts to manufacture doubt. That said, the guide does direct readers to helpful and reliable sources of information on trans health care in particular, as well as trans-led policy and legal analysis. Educating ourselves by actively seeking out and listening to the most impacted voices remains one of the most important forms of pre-bunking out there.
Common Dogwhistles: A Drinking Game
- trans-identifying
- natal female/male
- LGB (dropping the T)
- sex-based rights
- gender ideology
- transgenderism
- social contagion
- Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD)
- mutilation
- removal of healthy tissue
- chemical castration
- irreversible damage
- transition regret
- desistance
- safeguarding
- autogynephila/AGP
- Gender Exploratory Therapy
Common talking points: if you hear these, red flag!
- There are major uncertainties about the safety and effectiveness of gender affirming care. We just don’t know enough.
- The UK, Sweden, and Finland have all commissioned expert review of the evidence for gender affirming care and found it very weak or inconclusive.
- Of course the medical community says gender affirming care is safe; they’re profiting off gender nonconforming youth by creating patients for life.
- 80% of youth claiming to be trans will eventually go back to identifying with their sex assigned at birth.
- The frontal cortex doesn’t stop developing until age 25, meaning young people can’t truly consent to blockers, hormones or surgery.
- Transition is conversion therapy for kids who would otherwise be gay or lesbian.
- The number of teen girls identifying as trans has skyrocketed in the last decade due to the influence of social media and doctors/therapists/parents who automatically affirm.
- Kids are calling themselves trans but really they’re just dealing with underlying trauma, autism, ADHD, internalized homophobia, misogyny or porn addiction.
- There are no safeguards in place on gender affirming care for youth. Providers and clinics are failing to provide comprehensive evaluations before prescribing irreversible medical interventions.
- Social transition (changing name, pronouns, and dress) is a slippery slope to irreversible medical intervention.
- Suicide rates for trans youth are overstated and manipulated.
- There is no evidence transition reduces suicide risk in young people; actually it increases risk of suicide long term.
Commonly cited “expert” organizations and researchers. Big red flags!
- Genspect (SPLC-listed hate group)
- Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SPLC-listed hate group)
- American College of Pediatricians (SPLC-listed hate group)
- Lisa Littman
- Lisa Marchiano
- Stella O’Malley
- James Cantor
- Kenneth Zucker
- Ray Blanchard
- J. Michael Bailey
- Riittakerttu Kaltiala
And so, so many more. For the full ecology, see:
- Health Liberation Now, “Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence”
- Assigned Media, “Trans Data Library”
- Southern Poverty Law Center, “Group Dynamics and Division of Labor within the Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Network”
And watch out for these anti-trans hate groups that recruit from the left:
- LGB Alliance
- 4thwavenow
- Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF)
- Women’s Declaration International
- Deep Green Resistance
- Any crunchy (homebirthing, herbalist, alternative medicine etc) white feminists talking about being “politically homeless”
If you hear anyone reference these common dogwhistles, talking points or “experts,” you can be pretty they’re echoing disinformation from anti-trans movements and spaces. If they’re family or friends, you might not be able to talk them out of it, given that these views are often rooted in conspiracy theory rather than fact or evidence. But definitely challenge any media or policy discussion that references any of the above. And definitely challenge any activist bringing these talking points into your movement work, however good they are on other issues.
So what does the science say?
- See Cornell University’s extensive review of the peer-reviewed literature
- See Yale School of Medicine’s careful critique of the pseudoscience cited by anti-trans legislation in Texas, Florida, and Alabama
- Still looking for counterpoints? See Heron Greensmith’s “Annotated Bibliography of Point by Point Rebuttals of Anti-Transgender Disinformation”
More importantly, what do queer/trans communities have to say about health care, policy, and media coverage?
Here are some smart voices we follow:
- Alejandra Caraballo
- Assigned Media
- Erin Reed (erininthemorn.substack.com)
- Florence Ashley
- Jules Gill-Peterson
- Health Liberation Now!
- Heron Greensmith
- Translash Media
- Trans Safety Network
- Trans Journalist Association
Want a printable PDF version of this guide?
Download it here
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