Those who have the app TikTok may have, unfortunately, come across the ‘super straight’ movement, a recently established sexual identity which can be defined as ‘a person who will not date a trans person under any circumstances’. However, looking beyond the blatantly transphobic connotations behind this ‘sexual orientation’, research into the origins of ‘super straight’ indicates clear connections to neo-Nazism and how the people supporting this movement have fallen into the trap of promoting Nazi propaganda.
‘Super straight’ was first created on the 21st of February by the TikTok user @kyleroyce. In the video, Royce stated that, in order to no longer be called transphobic for not wanting to date a trans woman, he created a new sexuality where he could date, in his words, ‘real women’. This video gained over 2 million likes, securing huge support. Obviously, this new ‘sexuality’ is just a way for transphobes to not have to hold themselves accountable, but it is interesting to see the kind of people this trend further attracted. Following the TikTok video, there have been published screenshots from a since-deleted chat on /pol/, which is a ‘political discussion board’ on the website 4chan. The board is home to a large number of neo-Nazis and around 30% of its content includes hate speech. Members of this board, who were known to endorse Nazi ideals and could be viewed as neo-Nazis, jumped at the opportunity to spam ‘super straight’ all over Twitter, creating a toxic atmosphere for not only its trans users, but all those who are rational enough to recognise the problematic nature of this trend. It was when this started, that we first began to see neo-Nazi involvement in the ‘super straight’ movement.
This, however, is sadly not where it ends. A user on the /pol/ board introduced the new ‘super straight’ pride flag, two SS bolts with an orange and black background. At an immediate glance, it’s clear that this is the symbol of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi police. Now, ties between the ‘super straight’ movement and Nazism become distinctly clear. But did internet users who classed themselves as ‘super straight’ catch on? No, of course not. Suddenly, the comments of Twitter, TikTok, and other platforms were being flooded with the black and orange Nazi symbol. In celebration, an anonymous user on /pol/ wrote “Men, this is a great day. We’ve managed to make superstraight an actual thing that has made the ‘globohomo*’ panic.” and another wrote “Hail SuperStraight victory”. Whilst it is, of course, important to stress that ‘super straight’ did not originate on 4chan, it is clear how its neo-Nazi users seem to have benefitted.
Those who endorse ‘super straight’, unknowing of its Nazi connections, seem to find humour in the situation. Making jokes about “using the left’s tactics against them”, because they can “call them bigots for not accepting super straights”, they seem to lack an understanding of the harmfulness of this term and movement. Members of the LGBT community face discrimination every day, whether in the form of a passing comment about the ‘sinfulness of their actions’ or an act as blatantly violent as a hate crime. Not only does ‘super straight’ mock and ridicule LGBT identities as a whole, but it also allows for a new kind of discrimination, as the of flooding Twitter with a new hashtag #SuperStraight has led to 50 trans users being banned from without valid cause. Furthermore we are now able to recognize Nazi involvement in the trend, which proves to us further how much harm this has done and continues to do. Aiming to continue hatred towards the trans community, an anonymous 4chan user rallied further neo-Nazis to introduce a new strand of ‘super straight’ called ‘superkek’ which is “more associated with the right and /pol/ [and] which holds more hatred against [transphobic slur], basically the extremist superstraight”. Every day, this trend seems to further in radicalism and where currently transgender people are already facing online abuse, this could progress into real life violence at any point, which is something to be very wary of.
It goes without saying that no one should endorse or aid this cause in any way, as this could lead to a further growth in hate towards trans people. To help, however, make sure to report anything you come across which seems to be in favour of ‘super straight’ online, as this may help in slowing down the movement’s progress. Furthermore, make sure to educate those around you of this movement, as further awareness of its harm will help stop this being treated as a joke. Transphobia is a notion that has no place in 2021 and as a community, we need to seek to educate those who do not understand the extent of verbal and physical abuse that LGBT (and specifically trans) people face, of which ‘super straight’ just happens to be another strand.
*’Globohomo’ is an alt-right buzzword short for ‘global homogenisation’, the alleged drive of the left to destroy traditional culture.
