A Facebook post about a trans employee at a Space Camp program in Alabama has sent conservatives spiraling into a transphobic frenzy and calls to fire the employee — a move that could violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
On Saturday, a man named Clay Yarbrough posted on Facebook that there was a trans person working as a “hall monitor in the girls dorms” at Space Camp, a kids program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (The Space & Rocket Center is a NASA visitor center that runs science and robotics camps for children and adults.) Yarbrough shared screenshots of a Space Camp employee’s LinkedIn profile and social media posts, including photos. In his post, Yarbrough repeatedly misgenders them and calls them a “freak.”
The employee declined to comment to NBC News, but confirmed “they identify as transgender nonbinary and use they/them and she/her pronouns.”
Yarbrough’s post was picked up by the notoriously transphobic far-right social media account “Libs of TikTok,” which spreads dangerous anti-LGBTQ rhetoric under the guise of concern for children’s safety. (NBC News and other outlets have reported on how individuals and institutions singled out by the account have received bomb threats and death threats.)
That’s when Alabama Republicans hopped on the bandwagon. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, along with Reps. Gary Palmer and Robert Aderholt, implied that the camp was putting children in danger. Rep. Dale Strong called for the employee’s (illegal) removal and a “review to consider the potential harm and damages they have inadvertently caused our children.”
A 2020 Supreme Court decision affirmed that it is a violation of Title VII for an employer to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
What’s more, state Rep. Mack Butler told the Alabama Political Reporter that he wants to expand the state’s version of a “Don’t Say Gay” law — which bans instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in class — to apply to programs at the Space & Rocket Center. Mack admitted to APR that he had never been to Space Camp, has no idea if the Space & Rocket Center teaches gender identity, and has only heard what APR called “secondhand rumors” about a trans employee at Space Camp.
The Space & Rocket Center told local outlet WAFF that it was “aware of rumors” on social media, and that it is “working to determine the facts.” It also said that its staff undergo “extensive nationwide criminal background checks” and drug tests.
To be clear, the employee is not accused of any misconduct or wrongdoing. Yet the mere existence of a trans person has led to outrage and hysteria among conservatives, and a single social media post attacking that individual has escalated into a Republican-led campaign to fire them and to perpetuate discrimination against the trans community.
As the Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition pointed out in a statement Monday, Yarbrough “could not name any wrongdoing on the part of the employee, only that they were a transgender person.”
