‘Transvestigating’ explained as conspiracy theorists target Charlie and Erika Kirk

Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the trans community which some readers may find distressing.

The late Charlie Kirk and his widow Erika have become the latest victims of 'transvestigators' - a bizarre conspiracy theory that's circulating on social media.

The conservative activist was assassinated during a debate event at Utah Valley University on September 10.

While answering a question, a single bullet was fired through the 31-year-old's neck from the roof of a nearby building, killing him.

In the days following, Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder, as well as six other charges, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering and will make his first in-person court appearance in January.

Following Kirk's death, his wife Erika, whom he shares two young children with has stepped up to become the CEO of his right-wing nonprofit organisation Turning Point USA.

She's been in the spotlight more following her husband's death, including appearing in the Oval Office with Donald Trump and speaking at events with Vice President, JD Vance.

And now she's found herself at the centre of an absurd conspiracy theory - here's everything we know about it.

Charlie and Erika Kirk are the latest targets of a bizarre conspiracy theory (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

What is 'transvestigating?'

'Transvestigating' is a bizarre transphobic conspiracy theory where people try to prove that celebrities, politicians, and basically anyone in the limelight are secretly transgender.

As per Teen Vogue, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, as well as athletes like Serena Williams have all been targeted as the group seem to largely focus on female celebs and public figures.

The conspiracists' 'evidence' - a term to be used very loosely - is largely phrenology, which is a discredited system that studies the size and shape of someone's skull in order to find out details about a person.

People are overlaying diagrams of skeletons and skulls over photographs of celebs to point out alleged 'discrepancies' as well as 'analysing' their body language and posture.

It's important to note that this has of course been completely discredited by scientific research and has no truth to it.

The strange theory which largely targets women, first popped up on YouTube in 2017 (Getty Stock Image)

They also more generally scrutinise the way women look, pointing out 'male characteristics,' and as reported by Pink News, the theory first popped up in early 2017, primarily on YouTube, but has since grown alongside the rise of discrimination against trans people.

'Transvestigating' relies on the hateful view that being transgender is in some way wrong and it's a secret to be concealed, as they sometimes refer to the celebrities they're targeting as 'inverts'.

And that's not all - it actually gets crazier as some versions of the conspiracy theory are also antisemitic, with believers thinking that powerful Jewish influences are trying to 'force' secretly transgender celebrities on the world, reports Teen Vogue.

Other celebrities who've been targeted include Beyoncé and Taylor Swift (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

What have conspiracy theorists said about Erika?

For some reason, Erika Kirk is the latest person in the public eye to be attacked by this group.

One Twitter user who stumbled across the theory this week shared a screenshot of a Facebook group with over 53,000 members titled 'Transvestigation Disclosure NOW'.

The screenshot showed how one social media user bizarrely posted several photos of Kirk from her days as a Miss Arizona pageant contestant, pointing out their 'evidence' she's secretly trans.

The evidence in question was of course nothing concrete and instead her jawline, collarbone, and thigh gap. The Facebook user wrote: "That is a man. as most pageant winners are."

Another commenter added: “Of course almost all models, especially agent models and Victoria secret models are mostly [trans women]."

While another wrote: "Yup that’s why Charlie Kirk seemed so feminine and emasculated because she was a transgender handler. That’s why he was so pretty."

Time for those folks to go and touch some grass...

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]