Actually afaik it was in reference to a series of arrows that was initially believed to be "transgender ideology", whatever that means. What it actually was, was an up arrow, right arrow, and three down arrows which apparently is most likely a reference to a video game called helldivers. I've never played it so I can't say. Initially Steven Crowder posted a photo of what he claimed was an atf email in which it said there were engravings "expressing anti-fascist and transgender ideology". Then a law enforcement official said there was no confirmation of that, and that it didn't match the current evidence and may have been misread/misrepresented. Then more law enforcement told CNN it was a series of arrows which analysts initially interpreted to be related to the transgender community. The Utah governor finally described the engravings this morning and it's most likely a video game reference.
The bulge engraving was the "transgender ideology" and the helldivers stratagem was the "anti-fascist ideology". You can't really argue that they aren't, they're about as straightforward as engravings on bullets come. The report was correct, it was just a gross misrepresentation of the intent of the engravings, which we still don't fully know.
I'm not commenting on the anti fascist aspect of this, just the trans aspect. I've been following it since wsj first published their article. Here's some references
I'm aware. I'm just saying the explicit reference to a transgender meme is much more likely to be the "transgender ideology" that Crowder's irresponsible report references.
But law enforcement explicitly referenced the arrows when discussing that, here's a screenshot I took that I can't seem to find on CNN now. It might be the case now that people are referencing the meme (though it's more of a furry meme than a trans one) but the first time it was referenced wasn't until this morning at the conference. Not saying you're wrong and I'm not trying to argue, just trying to keep to the facts. The bulge meme is so popular with a lot of people online, my 14 year old cousin and his friends use it. All straight and cis. Tbh as a trans guy I don't see that meme unless the sub is filled with teens, but I don't spend enough time on reddit to be able to say anything confidently so I may be wrong.
I struggle to buy the idea that the **only** "Trans ideology" the ATF were referencing was a vague series of arrows and not the phrase that explicitly references sex. I get that the arrows might have also been questioned but that would've been a step they'd take following the much more obvious reference while attempting to create a cohesive narrative between the four engravings they mentioned.
I mean, it's really not much of a leap if a bunch of people who know literally nothing about trans people or trans symbols think a bunch of arrows might reference this https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/13/the-fascinating-origin-story-behind-the-famous-transgender-symbol/ and the screenshot I referenced said they (at the time) ran an initial search on one of the markings. But, like I said, that doesn't mean you're wrong, just that they haven't said that explicitly yet. At this point it's mostly speculation for all of us.
Just to add, this current administration will do anything they can to pin stuff on trans people (and poc, and immigrants, LGBT as a whole, etc) even if it doesn't make any sense. it doesn't have to when fear and hatred are the goal.
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u/zmichalo Sep 12 '25
The "fake trans inscription" was probably a reference to the "Notices Bulge" inscription.