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Amazon may be removing t-shirts supporting trans people’s right to own guns

amazon-transgender-gun-rights-second-amendment-rifle.
A trans-related pro-gun shirt sold on Amazon Photo: Twitter screenshot

The massive online retailer Amazon seems to have removed t-shirts that proclaim “Trans Rights or Else” alongside the images of four rifles colored pink, white, and baby blue, like the transgender Pride flag, The Mary Sue reported.

A Twitter user @aphexindividual, a self-described 25-year-old queer and nonbinary “[assault rifle] wielding ideologue,” posted a March 28 tweet alleging Amazon’s removal of the clothing item.

“if you wanted merchandise that showed support for trans rights and our second amendment, great news: amazon is now removing all of their listings for anything with trans colors / mentions of trans rights paired with guns,” @aphexindividual wrote.

The tweet included a screenshot of the t-shirt alongside another image of an Amazon webpage showing the item as unfindable. In a follow-up tweet, @aphexindividual said that they could still find just one shirt on Amazon for trans gun enthusiasts, a shirt with a rifle and the trans flag alongside the words, “If this flag offends you, we’ll help you pack.”

One of @aphexindividual’s follow-up tweets accused Amazon of a “double standard” and wondered if the online retailer would continue censoring other similar products. Another commenter pointed out that Amazon has plenty of pro-gun shirts mentioning the Second Amendment or featuring the U.S. flag. Amazon also offers other apparel supporting former President Donald Trump, even though Trump incited a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, one commenter said.

LGBTQ Nation contacted Amazon for a comment. This article will be updated when they respond.

The shirt’s alleged removal occurred barely a day after a possibly transgender shooter killed three nine-year-old students and three staff members at a private Presbyterian school in Nashville, Tennessee. Conservatives, like Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), pointed to the shooter as proof of their repeated claims that trans people are dangerous.

If Amazon is indeed removing these shirts, that would make them the second Big Tech company to recently censor images related to trans people fighting for their rights.

Earlier this week, Twitter’s Vice President of Trust and Safety Ella G. Irwin said that Twitter had removed over 5,000 images of a poster advertising a now-canceled protest entitled “Trans Day of Vengeance” because the image, according to her, would “incite violence.”

The protest’s organizing group, the Trans Radical Activist Network, said that the event was neither a call to violence nor related to Monday’s shooting but rather a demonstration against legislation and hate speech that threatens the safety and well-being of trans people.

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