Charlie Kirk and Wife, Erika, Fall Victim To Transvestigation

In a truly bonkers but entirely predictable turn of events, right-wing conspiracy theorists are transvestigating late political pundit, Charlie Kirk, and his widow Erika.

Perpetuated by anti-trans trolls, “transvestigations” rely on phrenology-like “evidence” of scrutinising physical features and bone structure to deduce someone’s “true” sex, leaning on the false idea that “we can always tell”.

As first reported on by them, conspiracy theories around Erika Kirk started not long after her husband was shot and killed at a Utah university in September. Users across X, Facebook, and Reddit began theorising that her features, such as her “straight collar bones”, “low set ears”, and thigh gap indicated that she was an “invert”, as trans people are called in right-wing conspiracy circles.

Posts on the Facebook group “Transvestigation Disclosure NOW,” which has more than 53,000 members and multiple offshoot groups, return to these features repeatedly, referring to her as “Erik” or “Erik(a)”.

One video from an online creator questions why they’re unable to find pregnancy photos of the former pageant queen, pointing to her “little boy hips”.

Even Charlie Kirk isn’t safe in death, with people theorising that he may also be an “invert”, while others argue his entire family are, with one X user suggesting that his sister’s clavicles could be an indicator of her secret transness.

“that’s why Charlie Kirk seemed so feminine and emasculated because she was a transgender handler. That’s why he was so pretty,” one user wrote, referring to the idea that trans people are controlled by “handlers” assigned by those at the top of the conspiracy.

Delving deeper into these forums and threads reveal more unhinged theories, from the idea that Erika was the victim of child trafficking, to more sinister, antisemitic rhetoric that play on ideas of the “new world order”.

“Deeply misogynistic” trend that impacts us all

Transvestigations are becoming more and more common as trans people are weaponised by those across the political spectrum, with seemingly anyone becoming a potential target.

Candace Owen, a far-right political commentator and friend of Charlie Kirk, is currently being sued by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife Brigitte, after spending months harassing the pair and accusing Brigitte of secretly being trans.

Owens released an eight-part series on YouTube Becoming Brigitte, in which she claimed Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the name of her actual brother.

She also claimed the Macrons are blood relatives and that Emmanuel Macron is the result of a CIA human experimentation program similar toMKUltra, with the series garnering more than 2.3 million views.

GLAAD notes the movement of transvestigations began around 2017, and initially targeted Black women including Michelle Obama and Serena Williams, accusing them of secretly being men in a deeply racist and transphobic attempt to discredit their achievements.

A 2021 report from the Wilson Center called the phenomenon, “deeply misogynistic”.

“These narratives tap into the trope of the duplicitous woman, implying that not only are transgender individuals inherently deceptive, but that this deception is responsible for the power and influence that these women hold,” it detailed.