The article documents how MAGA‑aligned online conspiracy communities have begun "transvestigating" Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk, applying a long‑standing, transphobic tactic to figures on the right. Transvestigation is defined as an unfounded practice that scrutinizes physical traits and relies on debunked pseudoscience. Erika Kirk’s pageant photos and childhood descriptions have been circulated as "evidence," and the harassment intensified amid social‑media chatter after reports of a September incident at Utah Valley University. Critics say the trend is harmful to both cis and trans people and signals fractures within right‑wing online spaces.
MAGA’s Conspiracy Culture Turns Inward: 'Transvestigating' Charlie Kirk and His Widow
The article documents how MAGA‑aligned online conspiracy communities have begun "transvestigating" Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk, applying a long‑standing, transphobic tactic to figures on the right. Transvestigation is defined as an unfounded practice that scrutinizes physical traits and relies on debunked pseudoscience. Erika Kirk’s pageant photos and childhood descriptions have been circulated as "evidence," and the harassment intensified amid social‑media chatter after reports of a September incident at Utah Valley University. Critics say the trend is harmful to both cis and trans people and signals fractures within right‑wing online spaces.
12:17 AM, 11/15/2025Society
MAGA’s conspiracy culture turns inward
Some ultra‑conservative online communities that have long trafficked in baseless theories about public figures’ genders are now directing those attacks at their own side — targeting conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk.
What is 'transvestigation'?
Transvestigation is a transphobic conspiracy theory that surfaced online around 2017. Adherents claim public figures are secretly transgender and attempt to "prove" that claim by scrutinizing physical features — jawlines, collarbones, thigh gaps — or by invoking long‑discredited pseudosciences such as phrenology. The practice is unfounded, invasive, and harmful.
How Erika Kirk became a target
Members of a Facebook group called "Transvestigation Disclosure NOW" and other MAGA‑adjacent communities have circulated photos of Erika Kirk from her Miss Arizona pageant days, along with childhood anecdotes (for example, describing herself as a "tomboy"). Online posts and videos have presented these items as "evidence" that she is transgender, employing the same body‑shaming analyses typically used against celebrities perceived as liberal.
"erik(a) kirk, straight collar bones, his legs aren’t normal female anatomy either, jaw line is male, thigh gap, that is a man. As most pageant winners are," read one screenshot shared widely on X.
Other posts have speculated about an apparent lack of publicly available maternity photos and made crude comments about body shape. These claims rely on speculation and visual analysis rather than any credible evidence.
Context and consequences
Previously, transvestigation campaigns have targeted a wide range of public figures and symbols, from athletes and actors to public officials and even monuments. Those targeted have included Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, actor John Krasinski, Miss Universe contestants, French first lady Brigitte Macron, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and — in one notorious example — the Statue of Liberty.
In the current case, the harassment intensified online in the weeks following widely circulated social‑media reports about a shooting at an event at Utah Valley University in September. (Note: reporting around that incident has been uneven on social platforms; independent verification of all social posts is advisable.) Whatever the surrounding circumstances, the rise in transvestigation activity highlights how these conspiracies can victimize both trans people and cisgender women.
Pushback
Not everyone on the right has endorsed the claims. Some commentators on X (formerly Twitter) reposted screenshots of the transvestigation chatter to condemn it, arguing the trend demonstrates internal fractures and noting that transphobia harms a broad range of people. Others used terms like "terfism" to call out exclusionary attitudes toward transgender people.
Why this matters: Transvestigation is not legitimate research — it is a pattern of harassment that weaponizes appearance and misinformation. It contributes to a hostile online climate and can have real‑world consequences for the people targeted.