In Ottawa, the US Calls for an End to Antifascists
Leading Off: The US advocates for increased action against “far-left terrorists,” Do No Harm goes beyond its anti-trans roots, and a trans darts player is forcibly retired. Our top stories as the week begins.
by Assigned Media
At a recent international conference in Ottawa discussing counterterrorism in the wake of the US war against Iran, representatives of the Trump regime urged allies to put more focus on an allegedly rising tide of far-left terrorist activity. According to reporting by the New York Times, transgender activists, as well as antifascists, anticapitalists and “eco-extremists” were among the groups the administration claims deserve more counterterrorism focus.
Political violence from the US right has long been far more common than violence from the left, though attempts have been made to push the dubious claim this trend has reversed recently. The focus of international anti-terrorism cooperation is typically on known international threats such as Islamist groups rather than partisan political priorities.
The claim that trans people are dangerous and prone to violence has been circulating on the right for years, though no data backs this up. Last September, the Heritage Foundation (the far right group begging Project 2025) called for transgender activists to be designated as terrorists by the US government. The mention of trans people alongside other disfavored groups in Ottawa is evidence that the campaign has born some fruit in the Trump administration.
The traditionally anti-trans advocacy group, Do No Harm, has broadened its horizons from focusing on trans people to attacking any organization that they feel is biased against white people. Since March, the group has filed several lawsuits against institutions over policies and programs they deemed discriminatory.
The most recent of these lawsuits has been filed against the Department of Health and Human Services over its Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program, a program designed to give scholarships to native Hawaiians seeking to practice medicine, provided that they promise to work in underserved parts of Hawai’i for two to four years. Do No Harm alleges that the program, intended to uplift a colonized and often underserved ethnic group, is discriminatory because it is not available for white applicants.
The group has also filed similar suits against Kaiser Permanente, Texas Tech University, and the American Medical Association for alleged racial discrimination.
“Apparently, I just got retired,” said Dutch darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven in a video posted to Instagram in response to a new policy banning trans women from women’s competitions by the Darts Regulation Authority. The DRA reportedly relied on a report by an anti-trans advocate for the decision. Though the sport has long been dominated by cis men, most major darts tournaments are mixed gender because performance in darts does not rely on attributes like muscle mass which are impacted by testosterone.
It’s not clear what’s next for Van Leuven, but she ended the video on a note of defiance, saying she’s not done fighting.
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