After the Twin Towers fell in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people, a recurring theme was the fear of “Islamophobia.”
The term was thrown at people who opposed the erection of a mosque at Ground Zero and who accurately identified the 19 skyjackers as Muslim terrorists.
It was coined from the phony word “homophobia,” which gay activists invented and which has morphed into a slur on anyone failing to embrace any part of the LGBTQ agenda.
The mass killing on 911 was a serious stumbling block to the notion that all religions and belief systems are equally prone to spawning violent extremism.
It’s why the Gaza-obsessed media ignore the Muslim genocide of Christians in Nigeria and other African countries. When the media cover it, both sides are equally culpable, two religions duking it out.
A similar “see no evil” theme emerged this past week following the mass murders at a Catholic church in Minneapolis where a transgender shooter killed two young children at a Mass and injured 17 before shooting himself.
The media did their best to quell “transphobia” by concealing that the shooter, Robert Westman, 23, was a male who had his name changed to Robin in 2020 with his parents’ support. His father even celebrated his son’s female identity in a 2018 Facebook post adorned with transgender colors.
The Washington Post waited for 35 paragraphs to get around to mentioning that the shooter was a transgender.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat who bent his knee to Black Lives Matter and declared his city a transgender “sanctuary,” gave a speech voicing sympathy for relatives of the slain and wounded children, but he also dismissed the value of prayers in response to tragedy.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying.”
So, we shouldn’t pray?
Although some media reported that the motive was unclear, Westman had posted an online “manifesto.” Like The Washington Times, the Post did describe some of the profoundly disturbing content, such as “slogans and sayings that were anti-Black, antisemitic, anti-Hispanic and anti-God.”
The media’s overall downplaying of the shooter’s gender dysphoria fits their lack of interest in the growing menace of trans-related violence, such as the California-based Zizians transgender cult, which has been blamed for three murders in 2022 and three in 2025.
In 2023, Aiden Hale, who went by Audrey Hale, killed three children and three staff members at The Covenant School in Nashville. His journals were radical trans screeds, but the media seemed mystified as to his motive, and the story quickly lost steam.
As for the Minneapolis murderer, “Like other radicalized school shooters, Westman was extremely active online,” independent journalist Andy Ngo reported.
“He posted a now-deleted YouTube video flaunting his firearms and ammunition magazines, scrawled with messages and symbols: ‘Where is your God?’ one read. ‘Kill Trump Now!’ read another. ‘ISRAEL MUST FALL.’ On a magazine clip, he wrote, ‘For the children.’”
One entry indicates that Mr. Westman regretted his transitioning but felt trapped:
“I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself. I can’t cut my hair of [sic] now as it would be embarrassing defeat. …”
Perhaps if Mr. Westman had been counseled to identify with his biological sex, the horror at Annunciation Catholic Church could have been avoided.
Alas, Minnesota is in the grip of Democrat lawmakers, who banned such counseling.
In March 2023, Minnesota. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan wore a shirt showing a buck knife with the words: “Protect Trans Kids” at a press conference unveiling Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order declaring Minnesota a “trans refuge” state.
A month later, Walz signed laws banning “conversion therapy,” the left’s pejorative term for reparative therapy to address unwanted sexual desires.
Walz also signed a law protecting access to “gender-affirming care.”
In Minnesota and other Democrat-run states, you can steer kids like Robert Westman into gender confusion, but you can’t help them out of it.
Gender dysphoria is a complex, heart-wrenching experience for sufferers and their families. They deserve compassion and access to tools that could help them, not put them at risk for permanent damage via drugs, hormones and surgeries.
Much of the medical establishment is still mired in the Dark Ages on this issue. In early August, the leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics voted to make their top concern “recognizing transgender patients and providing gender-affirming care,” according to The Epoch Times.
However, the tide appears to be turning. Of the 100 gender clinics for youths in the United States, 35 have shut down and 28 more have restricted their services since 2021, according to the American College of Pediatricians, a Christian medical group.
Twenty-five states so far have banned transgender treatments, and the U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on a challenge to a Colorado law banning “conversion therapy.”
A big rig of restored sanity is rolling down the highway, with Democrats caught in the headlights. It was the sleeper issue of the 2024 presidential contest, and it could well decide others.
In Virginia’s gubernatorial election this November, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, a black Republican, is running against former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat.
At a recent protest, a member of a group canvassing for Spanberger held up this sign:
“Hey Winsome, If Trans Can’t Share Your Bathroom Then Blacks Can’t Share My Water Fountain.”
Anyone want to bet how that will go over with Virginia’s black voters?
This column was first published at the Washington Times.