You may have heard rumblings about the problematic online trend “transmaxxing” in the wake of ultra-conservative pundit Charlie Kirk being fatally shot on September 10, but what does it actually mean?
This confusing term started popping up as a way for Republicans to link the shooting to transgender people, despite the man arrested for allegedly shooting Kirk being a cisgender man. This anti-trans blame game started after news outlets like the Wall Street Journal’s reporting suggested the fatal shooting was connected to transgender people because the ammunition was “engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology,” a speculative theory that the publication then quietly walked back.
But the damage was already done, and the GOP immediately latched onto the idea. The right’s anti-trans hate was then further sparked by speculation that alleged Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson may have had a romantic relationship with his roommate, who was supposedly “transmaxxing.”
More than being an actual path towards gender transitioning, GLAAD calls "transmaxxing" a common "anti-trans trope used by right-wing political figures and media to fearmonger and fuel false narratives about transgender people,” but what is this toxic trend all about, and how damaging is it to the trans community? To break it all down, we talked to gender-affirming therapist Jess Clodfelter, and Willow Sipling, a nonprofit program director, educator, and sociology PhD student at Western Michigan University, where she focuses her research on organizational ethics, religious fundamentalism, and conversion therapy.
What is ‘transmaxxing’? Where did the term originate?
One theory for why Robinson allegedly shot Kirk is that he was a “Groyper” — the name for followers of white nationalist activist Nick Fuentes — who believe that women have more power in society and that life will be easier if they transition genders, regardless of whether or not they identify with their gender assigned at birth or not.
“Transmaxxing” is a term created by these manosphere and online incel (involuntarily celibate) communities who aren’t actually trans, but think if they become women they’ll “have better dating odds, it’ll make sex easier, you’ll get more sympathy or empathy, and escaping all those ‘male burdens,” Clodfelter tells PRIDE, pointing out the irony of this thinking while living in a patriarchal society.
Groypers frame transmaxxing as a “life hack, not an actual real identity,” says Clodfelter.
The name for the term, which is steeped in misogyny and resentment toward women, comes from combining “transgender” with the suffix “maxxing,” slang for improving something, like “looksmaxxing,” “gymmaxxing,” or even the feminist take on it, “bushmaxxing.”
Not only is it connected to the Groyper movement and incels, but transmaxxing is part of “Black Pill” ideology, an even more right-wing and nihilistic version of the “Red Pill,” and was popularized by Vintologi, the anonymous author of The Transmaxxing Manifesto which states that “becoming a MtF transsexual is a way better option than being involuntarily celibate as a male” because you can “extract resources from men.”
That being said transmaxxers aren't in support of gender affirmation but rather “incels falsely believe that women have greater ‘market value’ than men, receive greater societal benefits, and that feminism allows women greater advantages,” Sipling explains.
Is this a practice people actually engage in, or is it just a meme?
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According to Clodfelter, while transmaxxing is more of a meme than a real thing people engage in, the hateful rhetoric is still dangerous. “There’s no solid evidence of a lot of people actually transitioning just for clout, sex, or ‘benefits,’" she says. “The rhetoric around it is mostly hypothetical, there’s a lot of trolling, or as an ideological tool of intimidation. But—and here’s the huge catch—there are always a few very lost, vulnerable people in incel spaces who could actually take this seriously. Which makes it both meme and malice.”
Although people may not actually be transitioning, and instead are just spreading hateful rhetoric, the messaging is harmful. “These views are dangerous to people inside and outside of the transmaxxing movement,” Sipling says. “First, it is based on a false 'men's rights activist' understanding, which is blissfully unaware of the actual issues women and queer people face in the real world. Men, are in fact, discriminated against at much lower rates than women, and women are much more likely to be the targets of violence. Transmaxxing provides a false narrative, which shifts the focus away from actual issues of equity.”
Is this dangerous for the actual trans community?
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Clodfelter says that “even if it’s mostly just a bunch of guys playing pretend on forums, the idea of transmaxxing is harmful” because it’s used by far-right anti-trans groups to “paint trans people as predators, manipulators, or frauds,” this creates a false idea of “real” vs. “fake” trans people that divides that trans community and polices identity, and endangers emotional vulnerable people who might make a life-altering choice as a quick fix for “ loneliness, depression, or wanting connection with someone.”
It also delegitimizes real trans identities. “If people spin transitioning into it being a shady strategy to fix what’s ‘wrong’ with your life, then anti-trans folks are getting even more ammo to say all trans people are ‘faking it,’” Clodfelter says. “Spoiler alert: THEY’RE. NOT.”
Transmaxxing is also harmful to the trans community because it places the focus on medical transition and “passing,” despite those not being a goal for every trans or gender expansive person. “It is an unexamined view that is deeply embedded in a ‘one-sided view’ of gender presentation,” Sipling explains. “Often, this transmedicalist perspective assumes that ‘correct’ gender presentation is a white, European presentation, and one unfortunately shaped by misogynistic and pornographically-fueled views of what women ‘should’ look like.”
Sipling also says that while “many far-right individuals publicly castigate queer people, trans folks can be hated politically, but fetishized sexually,” which is why “objectifying trans pornography is consumed at higher rates in conservative states.”
The TLDR of it? Transmaxxing was never “about fake transitions, it’s always about giving anti-trans folks another stick to swing at actual trans lives,” Clodfelter explains. “You can add it to your culture war bingo card—sitting neatly between ‘woke,’ ‘cancel culture,’ ‘snowflake,’ and ‘free speech.’”
How does this relate to far-right groups?
Transmaxxing is deeply connected to the far-right and incel groups. “Here’s the kicker: it’s not just sad forums in the deep dark corners of the internet—far-right groups have clocked the meme and are weaponizing it,” Clodfelter warns.
The people in these communities talk about transmaxxing being the key to getting the supposedly better treatment that women receive, but then “spin it as ‘proof’ that being trans isn’t real. They also opportunistically use it as a culture war talking point, claiming that identity is just a scam.
“Long story short: these far-right guys don’t care if anyone actually ‘transmaxxes.’ At the end of the day, they don’t care if it’s real or not—they just love that the word makes trans folx look sketch,” she says.
How can it be identified online?
The right-wing incels that repeat this dangerous rhetoric online aren’t hard to spot once you know what you’re looking for, and if you follow Clodfelter’s advice you’ll know you’ve stepped into that dark corner of the internet and be ready to call it out.
If you start reading Black Pill jargon, full of the most extreme, nihilistic versions of right-wing ideology, and are seeing links to bizarre anti-trans propaganda, you’ve likely stumbled into a transmaxxing community.
“You’ll see those cringey meme ‘manuals’ treating transition like a cheat sheet. So if you’re not vibing with this concept, avoid those spaces,” she recommends.
And then don't hesitate to denounce it immediately. “Next time you spot it online, clock it and call it out for what the fuck it is: lame ass incel jargon dressed up in a really cheap costume trying its best to pass as culture war ammo,” Clodfelter says. “And reminder—the trolls existing doesn’t erase the fact that trans folx do too.”
Sources cited:
Jess Clodfelter, a gender-affirming therapist.
Willow Sipling, a nonprofit program director, educator, and sociology PhD student at Western Michigan University, where she focuses her research on organizational ethics, religious fundamentalism, and conversion therapy.
