Tuberville Links Transgender People to Aviation Safety Risks

Sen. Tommy Tuberville used a Senate-floor speech Tuesday to criticize transgender people, link them to violence and furry culture, and claim that many airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers belong to that community. The Alabama Republican also called for doctors who provide gender-transition care to face severe punishment and urged the return of mental institutions. Tuberville delivered the remarks during a speech of about 20 minutes, standing beside a poster bearing a pregnant-man emoji and the words “Transgenderism Is a Mental Disease.” He said he rejected the term transgender and would instead describe people as “gender confused,” arguing that the former implied a person could change their sex. He asserted that transgender people were becoming violent and cited the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the 2024 assassination attempt against President Donald Trump. Tuberville alleged that the suspects in those cases had connections to transgender or furry culture. Those assertions were presented as his claims; the supplied accounts do not independently establish them.