The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality

Amid a record-setting year of anti-transgender legislation, TransLash Media presents our new limited-series podcast, The Anti-Trans Hate Machine. This four-part program takes us behind the curtain of the dark money, right wing organizations, radical figures and extreme ideology driving the anti-trans backlash across the country. We expose a highly-organized political apparatus, which makes the future potentially darker for everyone. To do so, we center the voices and stories of trans people, as well as their families, who are victimized by this hostile movement with our award-winning journalist Imara Jones guiding us along the way.

In the opening episode for TransLash Media’s riveting new mini-series, our trusted award-winning journalist Imara Jones introduces us to a key component of the anti-trans hate machine through a historic case: Hecox v. Little. She walks us through the introduction to HB 500, the law that made Idaho the first state to ban transgender athletes participating in sports, and the investigation that quickly followed suit. We hear from aspiring college athlete Lindsay Hecox, as well as Ritchie Eppink, the Legal Director of the ACLU of Idaho, and Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice, who aided her through her case. And Imara receives an unexpected surprise when Idaho Representative Barbara Ehardt, the sponsor of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (HB 500), takes her call. In the end we learn about the organization behind these bills, a far-right group called Alliance Defending Freedom.You can connect with us on social media!Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Twitter (@imarajones) and Instagram (@imara_jones_)Follow our guests on social media: Ritchie Eppink: @eppink (Twitter)Chase Strangio: @chasestrangio (Instagram) @chasestrangio (Twitter)Podcast Credits: Executive Producer and host, Imara Jones; Oliver-Ash Kleine is Senior Producer. Tiler Wilson, Annie Ning and Ruby Fludzinski are our Associate Producers. Sydney Bauer is our Researcher. Audrey Quinn edited this series. Sound design and mixing by Alexander Charles Adams. Montana Thomas is our production coordinator. Audio engineering and production from Jaye McAuliffe. Sound editing and production from Callie Wright. Gillian Branstetter handles PR with additional support from Elle Communications. Digital strategy by Daniela Capistrano of DCAP MEDIA. Social media & production assistance by Yannick Eike Mirko. Justin Kloczko is our fact-checker. And our intern is Jordan Mirana.The music you heard was composed by Ben Draghi and also courtesy ZZK Records

In episode 2 of 4 of The Anti-Trans Hate Machine mini-series, we investigate and uncover the forces and organizations responsible for the reinforcement of bills meant to ban trans youth from access to life-saving and equal healthcare - starting specifically with Alabama’s SB 219 (2020) - Prohibits Gender Affirming Care Bill. We hear from some of the youth and parents affected by these bills, and learn about their choices to fight back, despite the hardships it brings to do so. You can connect with us on social media!Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Twitter (@imarajones) and Instagram (@imara_jones_)Follow our guests on social media: Anne Nelson: @anelsona (Twitter)Dr. Shauna Lawlis: @smlawlis (Instagram)Garry Smith: @garryrsmith (Instagram) @garryrsmith (Twitter)Margaret Huang: @margaret.huang.usa (Instagram) @margaretlhuang (Twitter)Phineas Fleming-Smith: @sarcastic_entity (Instagram)Rep. Jacob Rosecrants: @reprosecrants (Instagram) @jacobrosecrants (Twitter)Tony Perkins: @tperkins (Twitter)Organizations mentioned in this episode: Family Research Council: @frcdc (Instagram) @frcdc (Twitter)Family Policy Alliance: @family_policy (Instagram) @family_policy (Twitter) Focus on the Family: @focusonthefamliy (Instagram) @focusfamily (Twitter)Southern Poverty Law Center:@splcenter (Instagram) @splcenter (Twitter)The Trevor Project: @trevorproject (Instagram) @trevorproject (Twitter)Podcast Credits: Executive Producer and host, Imara Jones; Oliver-Ash Kleine...

In the third episode of the TransLash Media’s mini-series The Anti-Trans Hate Machine, Imara investigates the influence the Heritage Foundation had in infusing anti-trans ideology into the government during Trump’s presidency—a legacy the Biden administration is still trying to unravel. Through that investigation, Imara shares what she’s learned about one man who orchestrated many of those attacks on trans rights. Plus, we hear the stories of two brave women fighting against one of the most vicious attacks and suing the government to make sure trans people have equal access to healthcare. You can connect with us on social media!Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Twitter (@imarajones) and Instagram (@imara_jones_)Follow our guests on social media:Cecilia Gentili: @ceciliagentili72 (Instagram) @CeciliaGentili (Twitter)Jason Starr: @jasonestarr (Instagram) @jasonestarr (Twitter)Sharita Gruberg: @SharitaGruberg (Twitter)Tanya Asapansa Johnson-Walker:  @tanyaasapansa (Instagram) @tanyaasapansa63 (Twitter)Organizations mentioned in this episode:Heritage Foundation: @heritagefoundation (Instagram) @heritage (Twitter)Podcast Credits: Executive Producer and host, Imara Jones; Oliver-Ash Kleine is Senior Producer.Tiler Wilson, Annie Ning and Ruby Fludzinski are our Associate Producers. Sydney Bauer is our Researcher. Audrey Quinn edited this series. Sound design and mixing by Alexander Charles Adams. Montana Thomas is our production coordinator. Audio engineering and production from Jaye McAuliffe. Sound editing and production from Callie Wright. Gillian Branstetter handles PR with additional support from Elle Communications. Digital strategy by Daniela Capistrano of DCAP MEDIA. Social media & production assistance by Yannick Eike Mirko. Justin Kloczko is our fact-checker. And our intern is Jordan Mirana.The music you heard was composed by Ben Draghi and also courtesy ZZK Records

Over the past three episodes of our first ever mini-series, Imara has detailed the institutions that are the major components of the anti-trans hate machine. But in this episode we dive into the people funding this machine and why. We enter into the shadows of the anti-trans movement and unpack how their hate intersects with a larger, even darker agenda. You can connect with us on social media!Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Twitter (@imarajones) and Instagram (@imara_jones_)Follow our guests on social media:Andy Kroll: @andykroll (Twitter)Anne Nelson: @anelsona (Instagram) @anelsona (Twitter)Frederick Clarkson: @FredClarkson (Twitter)Heron Greenesmith: @herongio (Instagram) @herongio (Twitter)Organizations mentioned in this episode:Council For National PolicyNational Christian FoundationThe Dick and Betsy DeVos Family FoundationThe Prince FoundationThe Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation Podcast Credits: Executive Producer and host, Imara Jones; Oliver-Ash Kleine is Senior Producer.Tiler Wilson, Annie Ning and Ruby Fludzinski are our Associate Producers. Sydney Bauer is our Researcher. Audrey Quinn edited this series. Sound design and mixing by Alexander Charles Adams. Montana Thomas is our production coordinator. Audio engineering and production from Jaye McAuliffe. Sound editing and production from Callie Wright. Gillian Branstetter handles PR with additional support from Elle Communications. Digital strategy by Daniela Capistrano of DCAP MEDIA. Social media & production assistance by Yannick Eike Mirko. Justin Kloczko is our fact-checker. And our intern is Jordan Mirana.The music you heard was composed by Ben Draghi and also courtesy ZZK Records

Day by day, the attacks on trans kids grow louder, and more anti-trans bills keep moving through state legislatures. In this season of The Anti-Trans Hate Machine, Imara Jones illuminates how the right wing has fueled these bills by generating a breathtaking and wide-ranging disinformation campaign. Christian Nationalists are manufacturing pseudoscientific theories and using the entire anti-trans hate machine to pipe them out into the mainstream to create a rationale for these bills. And it’s catching on. We will show you how their anti-trans propaganda is working and ultimately being laundered by some of the most powerful newsrooms in the world. Season 2 of The Anti-Trans Hate Machine premiers March 31st..

Every day, attacks on trans kids grow louder, and more anti-trans bills keep moving through state legislatures. How did this happen?  In this episode we tell you how lessons learned by Christian Nationalists twenty years ago, in the fight to undermine gay rights by preserving conversion therapy, set the stage for today. Join us as we show how the ability to manufacture pseudoscientific theories and push them out in the  mainstream across three decades led to today’s crisis. 

Disinformation campaigns need archetypes to advance their propaganda. In this episode we see how Christian Nationalists have teamed up with TERFs, and even Dianic Witches, to find people who are “ex-trans” in a hopeless attempt to show that transgender people aren’t real. Join us as we follow Ky Schevers and her journey into the depths of the detransition movement. We will learn how her story was seized upon by pseudo-scientific groups and the harm it caused both to Ky and the community she loves.

Disinformation must spread in ways that are imperceptible and seemingly organic. Join us for a deep dive into the massive influence of the fringe blog 4th Wave Now, where parents who are hostile to their trans kids gather to spread conspiracy theories about the origins of gender identity. It has influenced liberal parents like Jeanne Ogden, who used ideas in the blog to help justify blocking her daughter Cam from receiving the care she needs. Learn how Jeanne and Cam are working to pick up the pieces, after being manipulated by this disinformation. And how, despite the harm, journalists like Jesse Singal grabbed the idea of trans social contagion and ran with it.