In a moment that should chill every American who values freedom and dignity, right-wing commentator Joey Mannarino recently called for all transgender people in the United States to be rounded up, detained, and studied. This grotesque suggestion isn’t just a toxic opinion—it’s a blueprint for state-sponsored persecution.
Mannarino isn’t a fringe player screaming into the void. He’s built a sizable platform online and is openly supported or engaged by multiple Republican political figures. His social media presence frequently intersects with far-right influencers, Trump-aligned operatives, and candidates. What he says isn’t without consequence.
This is not free speech. It’s an incitement to tyranny.
The notion of “studying” a minority population by force echoes some of history’s ugliest authoritarian regimes. It’s fascist ideology masquerading as political commentary. And while the rhetoric may be shocking, the silence from Republican leadership is perhaps even more disturbing. To date, no major GOP figure has publicly condemned Mannarino’s statements. And we haven’t heard a peep from the Log Cabin quislings.
Even more infuriating is the baseless fearmongering that attempts to justify this dehumanization. Some, including Mannarino, stoke the idea that transgender people are dangerous or criminally inclined—especially in schools.
Let’s dispel that lie right now.
According to data compiled by The Violence Project, which maintains one of the most comprehensive mass shooting databases in the U.S., 98% of school shooters are male, cisgender, and heterosexual. Not a single mass shooting incident has ever been credibly linked to a transgender ideology or movement. The vast majority of these tragedies are carried out by angry, disaffected young men—many of whom consume extremist content online.
Meanwhile, trans people are far more likely to be the victims of violence, not the perpetrators. The Human Rights Campaign reported at least 375 transgender and gender non-conforming people were murdered globally in 2023, with U.S. numbers rising for five consecutive years. These attacks often follow viral waves of anti-trans rhetoric online and in the media.
We also know the psychological toll of this hate is enormous. According to the Trevor Project’s 2024 National Survey, 56% of trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 1 in 5 attempted it. These aren’t statistics that exist in a vacuum—they are direct consequences of a society that treats trans people as threats instead of humans.
Make no mistake: this is not just about one man’s horrific tweet. It’s about a growing movement on the American right that has made transgender people into scapegoats for cultural decline, educational woes, and public safety issues they have nothing to do with. And in doing so, they divert attention from the real drivers of instability—gun violence, income inequality, and the erosion of civil trust.
If the GOP still believes in liberty and limited government, it must prove it by disavowing calls for surveillance, detention, and collective punishment. History has already taught us where that road leads—from the internment of Japanese Americans to the abuse of Muslims post-9/11. Those policies are now considered shameful. We must not repeat them with trans Americans.
Joey Mannarino may not hold elected office, but he’s been embraced by people who do. That makes him dangerous. But what’s even more dangerous is a political class willing to let hatred speak unchallenged, so long as it feeds outrage clicks and campaign donations.
This isn’t about left vs. right. It’s about human decency vs. ideological rot.
And if we don’t draw a hard line now, there may come a time when no one is left to draw it at all.
