The Statue of Liberty is now being ‘transvestigated.’ Yes, really
The Statue of Liberty. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The transvestigators are at it again, but they’re not, for a change, setting their sights on an athlete or an actor. In fact, not even a living person.
This time, it’s the iconic Statue of Liberty. Yes, the copper-clad colossal that’s stood overlooking New York City since 1886.
Lady Liberty joins the ranks of other icons to have their gender identity questioned, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer favourite Sarah Michelle Gellar and trans social media star Dylan Mulvaney.
Transvestigating, a smash-up of “trans” and “investigating”, refers to conspiracy theories that claim various individuals, usually women, are secretly transgender and hiding their “true” gender identity.
The rumour mill started whirring when podcaster Joe Rogan, who this week endorsed Donald Trump for president, suggested the statue might not be a woman at all but “a dude” or even a “cross-dresser”.
Rogan’s guest eagerly agreed, proposing that the statue actually portrays the ancient god Mithra. “It does look like a guy,” they said, adding that the statue’s arm “doesn’t look feminine”.
The comments have been met with a wave of mocking responses online.
The statue of liberty is not a woman. pic.twitter.com/EB8Ha6GiSc
— Not A Number (@myhiddenvalue) November 4, 2024
“Actually, it’s just a statue. It doesn’t have a gender, technically. But the face was based on the sculptor’s mother… so….” one commenter pointed out, referring to French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.
Another said: “Transphobia is a mental disorder,” while someone else asked: “Why do they think we nicknamed it Lady Liberty?” And yet another person summed it up by saying: “The fact that they’re ‘transvestigating’ the Statue of Liberty on the Joe Rogan Experience is absurd… and yet, here we are.”
This isn’t the first time there have been rumours about Lady Liberty. In 2019, a documentary exploring its history suggested there might be a secret hidden beneath the 305ft-high statue’s green gown.
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