Daniel Radcliffe has spoken up for the trans community yet again.

On Wednesday, March 29, LGBTQ+ nonprofit the Trevor Project revealed that the Harry Potter star will host a roundtable of trans youth in a new YouTube series. The program is titled Sharing Space and will be released on Friday, March 31, on the Transgender Day of Visibility.

“We listen to so many people talk about trans youth and hear them talked about so often in the news, but very rarely do we actually hear from these youth directly,” said the actor. “It was an absolute privilege to get to meet and listen to this incredible group of young people.”

“At the end of the day, if you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids,” he added, subtly throwing shade at anti-trans activists, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

In the trailer Radcliffe explained, “There are some people in the world who are just not trying to engage in this conversation in any good faith.”

“I think a lot of the time it’s just because people don’t know a young trans person so there’s just this, like, theoretical idea about this in their head.”

Since 2009, the Swiss Army Man alum has advocated for the Trevor Project including clapping back at J.K. Rowling in 2020 after she shared some offensive anti-trans messages on Twitter.

“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe said in response to Rowling. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”

Though, the 33-year-old at the time claimed that his statements were not “in-fighting” against the millionaire, he also added that Rowling was “unquestionably responsible for the course” of his career.

But, he did admit he felt “compelled” as a trans activist and “human being” to weigh in after the mom-of-three tweeted.

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Additionally, the theater performer said, “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you.”

“I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you,” he concluded the 2020 statement.

By Jonathan Allen

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – When Nashville police announced that the shooter who killed three children and three adults at a school this week was transgender, trans Tennesseans braced themselves for renewed vitriol in a state that has recently proposed a raft of anti-trans laws.

Soon enough, some prominent Republicans, including J.D. Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, and U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, suggested in social media posts that the shooter’s gender identity may have been a factor in the murders.

Police later said they did not know the shooter’s gender identity.

Even before the shooting, many transgender Tennesseans felt villainized by their state’s efforts to regulate the lives of gay and trans people, and were increasingly fearful for their safety.

“This isn’t a trans issue, this is a gun issue,” said Mykul Coscia, a drag king at Nashville’s Play Dance Bar, an LGTBQ nightclub. “But they’re gonna make it a trans issue.”

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature recently banned gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for anyone under 18, despite U.S. medical associations saying such treatment can save lives.

It also restricted drag shows in public in an ambiguously worded law taking effect this weekend that includes “male or female impersonators” in the same X-rated category as strippers. As that bill progressed, armed neo-Nazis and other far-right groups protested outside drag shows in the state.

The Tennessee bills are part of a broader anti-trans push by Republicans in conservative states who argue they are protecting children.

Coscia has a 7-year-old daughter going to a Nashville-area school, and said he was never worried about doctors or drag queens harming children. But he does live in fear of school shootings, which have become commonplace in the U.S., where guns are easily obtained.

Last year, the Supreme Court declared for the first time that the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.

Even as a gun owner himself, he wants lawmakers to make it harder to get hold of guns, and to ban the kind of semi-automatic rifle used in many school shootings, including Monday’s at the Covenant School.

Police identified the Nashville shooter as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, and initially referred to Hale as female. Later on Monday, police said Hale was transgender. By Wednesday, the police department was less sure.

“We do not know the shooter’s personal gender identity,” Kristin Mumford, a police spokesperson, wrote in an email. “We are aware that she used male pronouns in a social media profile.”

The vast majority of mass shootings in the U.S. are committed by non-trans men, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a non-profit group advocating for stricter gun regulation.

Grayson Collins, a trans man raising a 3-year-old daughter with his wife in a Nashville suburb, said the gender identity of a mass shooter was irrelevant.

“It’s evil,” he said. “I could care less who they are or what they are. You still took someone’s life and that’s horrible.”

Dawn Bennett is the pastor of The Table, an LGBTQ congregation at a Lutheran church in downtown Nashville, and spent Wednesday helping organize a vigil. Congregants lit candles and another pastor rang a bell as the name of each of the Covenant School victims was read aloud in prayer.

“You can also pray by writing to your state legislator,” Bennett said from the pulpit. Some later left the pews to head to a laptop set up in the church’s hallway, where they could send a petition to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, to enact “commonsense gun safety measures.”

After the service, Bennett, who has a trans son, said one of her congregants had been confronted and “told they were the cause, that this was God’s repudiation of gay people, and that ‘you and your people are going to hell for eternity,'” she said. “The trans community is going to pay dearly for this.”

Two other congregants were similarly targeted, Bennett said.

Nashville police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for information about attacks or threats on the LGTBQ community since the shooting.

Every time there is a school shooting, Story VanNess said she has sleepless nights: she was a special education teacher in a Knoxville school for several years before becoming the director of trans and non-binary programs at Knox Pride.

VanNess, who in recent months has heard from the parents of several trans youth asking her advice on how to flee Tennessee, went through drills and lockdowns in her classroom. She had nightmares about ever having to deploy the pair of sharp scissors she had stashed near the classroom door to confront an attacker.

“It’s all just disgusting and heartbreaking,” she said. “We’ve had another school shooting but, because this shooter was trans, that’s taken a back seat so politicians can demonize trans people. Now we’re even more of a target than ever before.”

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in Nashville; Additional reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Donna Bryson and Sandra Maler)

By Tim Reid, Alexandra Ulmer and James Oliphant

(Reuters) – The battle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has for months been seen as a two-man race: a fight between Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rising national star long viewed as the only candidate capable of defeating the former Republican president.

Yet missteps by DeSantis on foreign policy and a doubling down by Trump on politically violent rhetoric in recent days – the type of grievance politics that has alienated some previously loyal Trump supporters – has underscored the volatility of a race still in its earliest stages, party strategists and donors say.

While both Trump and DeSantis, who has not yet declared, remain top contenders for the nomination, both are displaying vulnerabilities that could mean a long and bitter dog fight between both men, but also provide opportunities to other Republican hopefuls.

DeSantis’ muddled messaging on Ukraine and the multiple legal investigations into Trump mean that this year’s primary race “is a vast sea of uncertainty,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist and former DeSantis pollster. “The nomination fight is wide open.”

Recent Republican primary races serve as a reminder of how unpredictable the race could be: Trump, a former reality TV star, was initially dismissed as a longshot candidate before his shock rise to capture the 2016 nomination; Senator John McCain won the nomination in 2008 months after his campaign ran out of money and he was counted out by pollsters.

DeSantis, fresh off a landslide re-election victory as Florida’s governor in November, has cultivated a national profile as a conservative culture warrior who upset liberals by forbidding classroom instruction in Florida about sexual orientation and gender identity.

With polls and interviews showing many Republicans looking for an alternative to Trump, DeSantis’s message in a recent national book tour has been that he can deliver on conservative priorities but without the legal woes, palace intrigue and track record of defeats linked to Trump.

Last week, however, DeSantis was forced to backtrack after calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just a “territorial dispute.” It was an attempt to appeal to the “America First”, isolationist Republican base but backfired badly, drawing condemnation from many inside his own party.

Trump has also recently stepped up his attacks on DeSantis, who has largely declined to fight back, and has also called for widespread protests and warned of “death and destruction” if he is charged by Manhattan prosecutors investigating an alleged hush money payment to a porn star in 2016.

DeSantis’s Ukraine comments and Trump’s stepped-up attacks on his former protege have unnerved some Republicans, including deep-pocketed donors, who would rather see DeSantis as the nominee because they view Trump as too damaged to win a 2024 general election.

Two longtime and wealthy Republican donors told Reuters that DeSantis’s comments betrayed a lack of national experience and made them concerned that he is not ready for the prime-time exposure of a presidential campaign.

Metals magnate and donor Andy Sabin backed Trump in 2016 and 2020 but is now planning to spend money in the Republican primary on “anybody but Trump.”

Sabin gave $55,000 to DeSantis’ re-election campaign last year, but told Reuters the Ukraine comments shook him. “I’m not happy about it. I want to see how it plays out. It’s certainly going to affect me a lot.”

Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist and longtime critic of Trump, has conducted regular focus groups with Republican voters.

“How good is Ron DeSantis? I think we have just seen nobody is quite sure,” Longwell said.

A source close to DeSantis, who asked to remain unidentified because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the Florida governor would be “staying the course” in his ramp-up toward a presidential bid. Trump’s attacks are viewed by the DeSantis camp as an attempt to knock him out of the race before it begins in earnest, the source said.

TRUMP MEDIA FRENZY

In recent days, Trump has strengthened his position in some national primary polls as he has again dominated the news cycle by publicizing what he says is his imminent arrest. He has used the huge media exposure to try to rile up his base.

But Trump’s current advantages of near-universal name recognition, media attention and a core base of supporters could quickly dissipate, said Stu Rothenberg, a non-partisan political analyst.

Political analysts said Trump’s attacks on DeSantis could also hurt him. Enthusiastic crowds of Trump supporters were mostly quiet when he mocked DeSantis at two recent rallies.

The vulnerabilities of the two leading contenders for the nomination could provide openings for other Republican hopefuls, political analysts said.

Trump’s former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, the only other big-name candidate officially in the running, and Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, have criticized DeSantis for his Ukraine comments.

For now, despite the volatility, Trump and DeSantis remain the two leading contenders, said David Tamasi, a Republican donor and lobbyist.

“You have two candidates getting 75-80% of the vote,” said Tamasi, who previously backed Trump but is not this time. “It’s ups and downs. Ping pong.”

(Reporting by Tim Reid in Los Angeles, Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco and James Oliphant in Washington, Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

Political pundit Megyn Kelly blasted collegiate transgender swimmer Lia Thomas after ESPN honored the athlete as part of its Women’s History Month celebration, RadarOnline.com has learned.

In yet another attempt to condemn the so-called “woke” society, Kelly slammed Thomas.

On Sunday, ESPN featured Thomas’ swimming career at the University of Pennsylvania as part of a celebration for Women’s History Month. The video montage did not sit well with Kelly, who quickly blasted the athlete and sports network on Twitter.

“Oh HELL NO!” Kelly wrote in response.

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Thomas sparked a divisive debate about transgender athletes after she became the first trans-woman to win the Ivy League Championship and the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships in March 2022.

A year after her historic win and graduation, Thomas continued to receive hate, although she insisted that she did not transition to win swim matches, but for her own happiness.

Kelly, along with anti-trans advocates, piled on criticism following the ESPN celebration — with Megyn amplifying the messages by retweeting posts to her timeline.

Kelly followed up by retweeting a post from former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who’s an outspoken critic of Thomas.

“Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title,” Gaines wrote while sharing the ESPN montage of the ex-UPenn swimmer. “He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman.”

After Gaines intentionally misgendered Thomas, she added that the “@ncaa is responsible,” a common outcry from Gaines who accused Thomas of cheating last year due to her alleged unfair advantage of being born male.

Gaines added that if she “was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You’re spineless,” and called for a boycott of the network.

Kelly continued to uplift Gaines and reposted more of her tweets, which were aimed at other transgender public figures like TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney, who Kelly also attacked via her SiriusXM radio show.

Kelly joined Gaines in her outrage towards Mulvaney, who Gaines claimed was given $26,000 by the University of Pittsburgh for a speaking event. When Gaines was scheduled to speak at the same university, students protested over her comments toward transgender athletes.

Kelly retweeted Gaines and commented that it was “insane” for Mulvaney to be accepted by students.

By Sandra Stojanovic

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – The 28-year-old former student who killed three children and three adults at a Christian grade school in Nashville on Monday was under a doctor’s care for an “emotional disorder” and had purchased seven guns ahead of the shooting, the city’s police chief said on Tuesday.

New details about Audrey Elizabeth Hale emerged hours after police released harrowing video showing officers storming the Covenant School and conducting a room-to-room search before confronting and fatally shooting the assailant.

Hale employed two assault weapons and a handgun during the assault on the elementary school, the latest in a long string of U.S. mass shootings that have turned guns into a hot-button political issue.

Those three guns were among seven Hale bought legally from five area stores, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters on Tuesday.

Hale’s parents did not know that Hale was in possession of seven guns, the chief said, adding that they were under the impression that the suspect had owned only one gun but had sold it.

Drake said it appeared that the suspect had some sort of training with firearms. Hale fired on officers from the second floor as they arrived in patrol cars while standing back from large windows to avoid becoming an easy target.

Hale left behind a detailed map of the school showing entry points as well as what Drake described as a “manifesto” indicating that Hale may have planned to carry out shootings at other locations.

Drake previously said Hale self-identified as transgender. He referred to Hale using female pronouns on Tuesday, though Hale used male pronouns on a LinkedIn page that listed recent jobs in graphic design and grocery delivery.

The chief said investigators still have not established a motive.

The newly released six minutes of footage, edited together from the body-worn cameras of two responding officers, starts with an officer retrieving a rifle from his trunk as a staff member tells him that the school is locked down but that two children are unaccounted for.

“Let’s go! I need three!” the officer yells as he enters the building, where alarms can be heard ringing.

The video shows officers passing by bulletin boards and cubbies as they clear one room after another before heading upstairs, where one says, “We’ve got one down.”

Amid the sound of gunfire, the officers race down the hallway – past what appears to be a victim lying on the ground – and into a lounge area, where the suspect is seen dropping to the floor after being shot.

Officer Rex Engelbert and Officer Michael Collazo – whose body cameras provided the footage – both fire several rounds at the suspect. The video shows the assailant still moving on the ground as another officer repeatedly yells, “Get your hands away from the gun!”

‘OUR COMMUNITY IS HEARTBROKEN’

Monday’s violence marked the 90th school shooting – defined as any incident in which a gun is discharged on school property – in the United States this year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website founded by researcher David Riedman. Last year saw 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970.

The three 9-year-old children who were killed were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. Also shot dead were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of school; Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian; and Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher.

Scruggs’ father, Chad, is a pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is connected to the school. In a statement given to ABC News, he said the family was heartbroken.

“Through tears we trust that she is in the arms of Jesus who will raise her to life once again,” the statement read.

The school in a statement said, “Our community is heartbroken. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church.”

Nashville police began receiving calls about a shooter at 10:13 a.m., spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters on Monday. The suspect was pronounced dead by 10:27 a.m.

“The police department response was swift,” Aaron said.

The body camera footage showed officers rapidly searching for the shooter, in contrast to videos showing officers in Uvalde, Texas, waiting inside Robb Elementary School for more than an hour in May as a gunman inside a classroom continued an attack that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults.

A number of officers responding to a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 remained outside the building rather than immediately pursuing the suspect, according to a state commission’s investigation. Seventeen students and staff members died in that attack.

Both incidents prompted fresh scrutiny of police protocols for active shooters, which call for officers to engage the suspect at once to prevent loss of life.

Police previously released surveillance footage showing the shooter arriving at the school and gaining entry by shooting through a glass door. The suspect is seen stalking through empty hallways as emergency lights flash, brandishing a rifle and entering rooms, seemingly looking for people.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, serves about 200 students from preschool to sixth grade in the Green Hills neighborhood of Tennessee’s state capital, according to the school’s website.

(Reporting by Sandra Stojanovic in Nashville; Additional reporting by Tyler Clifford, Rich McKay, Brad Brooks, Brendan O’Brien and Jonathan Allen; Writing and additional reporting by Joseph Ax and Steve Gorman; Editing by Mark Porter)