Everyone knows National “Public” Radio hates half the public, the half that voted for Donald Trump. On Wednesday’s terribly named All Things Considered, an eight-minute story on NPR promoted “Sequeerity,” an LGBT security force in Minneapolis protecting their own from the allegedly violent hatred of the Trump-loving right-wing extremists.
The reporter was their “domestic extremism” reporter Odette Yousef, who doesn’t report on any LGBT extremism -- they don't acknowledge that exists. that can’t be identified. The sympathetic headline was “Neighbors protecting neighbors: Worried marginalized communities prep for Trump term.” Anchor Ailsa Chang set the anti-Trump table:
AILSA CHANG: In a few weeks, some Americans will celebrate the beginning of Donald Trump's second term. For some others, the next four years will be filled with anxiety over personal safety. A group of people in Minneapolis is helping some neighbors feel more prepared. NPR domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef spent some time with them.
Trump's victory is the opposite of safety, that's the government-radio line. Kimmy Hull co-founded "Sequeerity" after the George Floyd riots engulfed Minneapolis. Yousef said "Hull refers to the unrest that followed Floyd's murder as the Uprising." But after that, she said, "Proud Boys and white nationalist biker gangs were terrorizing the neighborhood. And police abandoned the 3rd Precinct. Locals were on their own for safety."
Hull became a "culturally sensitive" firearms instructor, and explained the trans advocates in Minnesota are buying guns:
HULL: We just felt like firearms weren't for us. We wanted to sit back and see what happened. And as soon as he got reelected, we decided that - it's not about whether they want one or not. They feel like they have to have one.
ODETTE YOUSEF: In other words, it's a Donald Trump effect.
KIMMY HULL: And the scary part about this is that this is Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are one of the safest states for trans communities, and our trans communities are buying guns because they don't feel safe.
Yousef took a sled a slippery slope, associating violence with conservative legislation. Tim Walz signing a "Trans Refuge" bill wasn't extremist. Only the opponents are:
YOUSEF: Early in November, two trans women were attacked at a Minneapolis light rail station. This even though Minnesota is a trans refuge state -- it protects trans people's rights to medical care and bars discrimination against them. In many other states, it's very different. Trans people are less than 1% of the U.S. population.
But in 2023, there was an explosion of state bills to curtail their access to bathrooms, medical care and sports teams. Trump has promised similar policies at a federal level. And anti-trans violence has jumped as well. In Minneapolis, several people told me the trans community is falling back on a long held motto -- we keep us safe.
NPR never interviewed anyone who advocates "anti-trans" policies. They are not a Thing to be Considered. Hull and "Sequeerity" are unchallenged throughout. The narrative of anti-gay "danger" dominated. Yousef claimed "As some states have become increasingly dangerous for LGBTQ people, community defense networks have emerged. Volunteers coordinate to protect people at Pride and drag events. But often they like to remain anonymous, and there's no data on how many have formed."
Yousef ended by calling out the Minneapolis Police Department for not being supportive enough: "The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to an NPR request. And clicking a link on the department's website to a, quote, "LGBTQIA liaison" leads to a 404 error page."
Wrong. A quick Google search leads you right to a working page for "Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging."
