Transgender

Did Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, J.K. Rowling, and Mick Jagger say "I see the world being corrupted by Gayness"? No, that's not true: The quote about Paralympic sprinter Valentina Petrillo was made up and attached to those four celebrities in a series of click-bait of social media posts manufactured by a spam factory in Vietnam. AI tools and fake Facebook…

Did Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill, Derek Hough, Brandon Lake, Cliff Richard, athletes Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson and other celebrities ask for their footage to be removed from Netflix over LGBTQ content? No, that's not true: There are multiple social media posts showing different celebrities and athletes with a message that they told Netflix…

Did Burkina Faso reverse its September 2025 ban on LGBTQ+ conduct, as of October 21, 2025? No, that's not true: There were no national or international news reports about that. The purported "unbanning" was not mentioned on relevant government websites in Burkina Faso, either. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on October 20, 2025. It…

Does an image on social media platforms really show the bullet casing inscribed with 'Notices bulges OWO' found after the fatal shooting of activist Charlie Kirk in Utah? No, that's not true: The picture in question did not come from investigators, authorities or credible media organizations. Three online detectors determined that the image was likely created by AI and the…

Does a viral social media chart correctly represent the portion of the transgender population that had committed a mass shooting or the share of mass shootings according to gender identification between 2015 and 2025? No, that's not true: The charts supply no source for those numbers. Organizations that professionally track mass shootings using police records and public information had not,…

Did New Balance publicly cut ties with Simone Biles, ending a $22 million contract after the gymnast criticised activist Riley Gaines in June 2025? No, that's not true: The rumor originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer. Quotes attributed to the footwear brand were fabricated. The claim appeared in a June 10, 2025, post on Facebook (archived here),…

Did the U.S. Supreme Court refuse to hear a case about "sexual orientation discrimination" involving Rachel Levine, the Biden Administration's assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)? No, that's not true: The Supreme Court website did not show any record of such a decision. The story originated from an account on Facebook linked…

Did an April 2025 video show former First Lady Michelle Obama referring to herself "as a Black man"? No, that's not true: Obama was addressing Marlon Wayans, a Black man, and introduced her question to him with that preface. Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, interviewed Damon and Marlon Wayans on their podcast "IMO." The claim appeared in an April…

Did activist and former swimmer Riley Gaines "make it to the Olympics"? No, that's not true: Her name was not on the 2024 U.S. national team roster. It doesn't appear on the official website of the Olympic Games, either. The claim appeared in an interview aired on Fox News and uploaded to YouTube on April 16, 2025. At the 1:25…

Did a story about two "gender critical feminists" being treated in hospital after a "serious altercation" in a public bathroom originate as real news? No, that's not true: A satire account made it up as a joke and claimed it happened because both thought the other was transgender. The post dated back to April 2024 but screenshots of it have…