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Witchfinder generals and the hunt for all things trans

3 min readMay 8, 2025
Photo by Jan Kopřiva: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-wearing-red-hoodie-3281130/

It is undeniable that if you are trans X is bound to give you a bad case of the morbs. Every time a trans person makes a post or comment invariably a gender critic will come along and state that the trans person is a “bloke” or a “woman” or “non-binary identities don’t exist”. They think they are being so smart, but just like acolytes of Matthew Hopkins they are chasing shadows and using their usually anonymous accounts to bully and harass innocent people. Witch finding arises when a moral panic sets in, with fingers pointed at any innocent person deemed expendable enough to satisfy the clamours for justice and restitution. Jews, Muslims, communists, black men, immigrants, and now trans people are all blamed for social ills. Self-appointed witchfinders whip up the masses to attack anyone they think is too weak to defend themselves.

The anti-trans hysteria which emerged post-2016 replaced the earlier anti-gay policing which saw gay men and lesbians routinely outed and fired for their sexuality with impunity. Transphobic attacks increased because the right wanted a demographic who had little to zero cultural cache, no political power, and few financial resources to mount a legal defence. To be trans has always been marginal, especially when society has consistently refused to grant trans people full legal rights. Anti-trans witch finding has zeroed in…

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Rachel Saunders
Rachel Saunders

Written by Rachel Saunders

Writer, researcher, and generally curious

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