Southern Queer Newsroom
During the 2010s, the main thing I remember reading about from conservatives was that universities were all run by Marxist sociologist professors who would kill you for being a man. Attention-seeking behavior from organizations like Turning Point USA frequently turned drama into clicks and fans into dedicated harassers of their victims. In the early 2020s, Chaya Raichik used LibsOfTikTok to single out individual LGBTQ+ people for doxxing, harassment, and threats, and continues to do so. Conservative activist Riley Gaines rose to riches by placing fifth in an eight-way swimming race won by Lia Thomas, a trans athlete.
Now, in an apparent attempt to continue an old playbook, a Christian Oklahoma University student claimed a transgender graduate student instructor had discriminated against her on religious grounds. The reason: a bad grade on an essay that argued trans people are 'demonic' for violating God's natural order.
The student in question, Samantha Fulnecky, wrote the essay in response to an assigned article about societal gender roles. In short, the essay complains about having been made to even consider gender roles as something other than God's natural plan. The composition is lacking, arguments boil down to "God said so" without giving any verses or a non-religious justification, and it doesn't even meet the minimum word count. The essay appears to have been given a zero based on meeting none of the rubric guidelines.
The Oklahoma Univerity chapter of Turning Point USA, a right-wing youth recruitment organization founded and run by Charlie Kirk until his passing, immediately took to social media to complain about "religious discrimination," and the Right took off with it. TPUSA-OU demanded that "mentally ill" professors not be allowed to teach at any college or university, using the same phrasing that fascists around the country have used to demonize and otherize transgender people.
Notably, the student's mother, an attorney who represented Jan. 6 insurrection defendants, praised her daughter for standing up for Christianity by not doing an assignment properly. Between her high-profile mother, the quick turn-around on TPUSA-OU's post, and posting of the essay, this may have been intentionally planned to generate right-wing outrage. Given how old of a tactic it is, it would not be surprising.
The university, ever diligent in their defense of staff and faculty against politically motivated targeting, immediately suspended the instructor, and the professor they worked for did not step in to take any of the heat.
This situation is not unique. As mentioned above, stoking campus controversy for fame, money, and a fascist agenda is not new in the slightest. Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right activist best known during the mid-2010s, made it a goal to "trigger" as many college liberals as possible for clicks, until antifascist protests damaged the ability for him to appear at all. Ben Shapiro made his name debating college liberals and leftists up until the college students started trouncing him in those debates. Steven Crowder's "Change My Mind" events performed this same role. Charlie Kirk was doing this exact thing when he was murdered.
The target, a trans person, also isn't a new one for the Right. Nex Benedict, Lia Smith, and others were mocked relentlessly after their deaths by conservatives. A profound disgust of trans people and need for a political enemy has motivated lawmakers across the nation, from Georgia to Texas to Washington, D.C. Before trans people, the target was gay people. Before that, Muslims. None of this is new, surprising, or unexpected. At this point, it is an established pattern of conservative and fascist behavior to drive a minority group out of public life. As Knowles put it in 2023, the goal is the "eradication of transgenderism."
The realities of living through a constant assault on our rights is exhausting and increasingly difficult to bear. However, the growing solidarity for trans Americans is room for hope. Muslim Americans, who have been continually portrayed as terrorists, "jihadists," and inherently violent for decades, have stood for trans rights time and again. Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian American state representative currently running for Governor of Georgia, said as much in an interview with The Advocate, and consistently spoke against anti-trans legislation during the 2025 session. Faith leaders have come down to the Georgia State Capitol to advocate for trans youth multiple times. Despite the attempts, there is more solidarity with trans Americans now than there was at the start of 2025, and that alone is reason to keep pushing.