After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a debate event, his widow Erika stepped into a higher public role, appearing with political figures and taking over as CEO of Turning Point USA. Her increased visibility has now drawn the attention of “transvestigators,” a fringe online community that pushes a bizarre and deeply transphobic conspiracy theory claiming various public figures are secretly transgender.

“Transvestigating,” which first surfaced on YouTube in 2017, targets mostly women—celebrities, athletes, politicians—and tries to “prove” they are trans using debunked ideas like phrenology and arbitrary critiques of body shape, posture, and facial structure. Stars such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Serena Williams have all been victims of this baseless harassment, which is widely recognized as discriminatory and scientifically unfounded.

Erika Kirk has now become the group’s latest target. In Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members, users have shared photos from her beauty pageant days and pointed to features like her jawline or thigh gap as supposed “evidence.” Some commenters even tied their claims to anti-Semitic theories, showing how the conspiracy often overlaps with other forms of hate.

The claims against Erika, like those made about countless other women, are entirely baseless. The trend reflects broader online transphobia and misogyny rather than anything rooted in fact. Advocates urge anyone affected by such harassment to seek support through LGBTQ+ helplines and resources.