What is super straight? The transphobic meaning explained

10 March 2021, 15:21

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By Jazmin Duribe

Here's the transphobic meaning behind the super straight movement.

The "super straight" movement has been trending on social media recently with transphobic trolls and bigots attempting to make it become a sexuality.

The term is thought to have originated on TikTok and has spread among far-right groups. However, referring to yourself as super straight is actually transphobic and is being used to divide the LGBTQ+ community. Here's what the phrase actually means.

What is the super straight movement and why is it transphobic?

According to Urban Dictionary, the term super straight is the preference "of the opposite sex only if they were biologically born that gender". Transphobic people have now claimed it is a sexual orientation.

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The super straight movement can be traced back to TikToker Kyleroyce. In February, Kyle posted a video titled "Who else is super straight?" sharing that he had created a new sexuality. "I've made a new sexuality," he said. "Straight men get called transphobic because I wouldn't date a trans woman. Now, I'm super straight. I only date the opposite gender, women, that are born women. So you can't say I'm transphobic now because that is just my sexuality."

Kyle later deleted the video stating that people had "sent death threats to my mom over it". He also now appears to have deleted his account, or had it removed. That hasn't stopped him though, Kyle doubled down on his comments in an interview with Insider.

He said: "I created it because I was sick of being labelled with very negative terms for having a preference, something I can't control, and getting labelled by the community that preaches acceptance with that sort of stuff. It was never meant to be hateful towards anyone."

Kyle's video went viral and hit the far-right website 4chan. People soon starting sharing memes about identifying as super straight to "drive a wedge" within LGBTQ+ communities. Some even described themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

It's worth noting that "super straight" can be shortened to SS (the acronym for the Nazi military police Schutzstaffel) which trolls have found particularly amusing when the super straight content is being shared.

There are now a number of petitions calling for there to be a recognised Super Straight History Month in September and for it to be recognised as a sexual identity.

The movement has been swiftly criticised on social media for peddling transphobic tropes. TikTok user @procrasclass had the perfect response on why this movement is so problematic.

They said: "Super straight means you think that men who date trans women are less straight, meaning that trans women are men, and therefore not real women. Which is not only transphobic, but scientifically inaccurate."