Watch: Virulent, Anti-Trans Activist Michael Knowles Starred in Queer Short Film
Conservative, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles made headlines at CPAC recently with his virulent, anti-trans rant. In it he said, "for the good of society... transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely."
One thing he can't eradicate from his digital footprint is how he played a queer man in a 2012 short film, reports LGBTQ Nation.
Before he became a right-wing troll, Knowles was a struggling actor. Check out his credits on his IMDb page. "(H)e even landed an uncredited role in an episode of the acclaimed Steven Soderbergh-directed series 'The Knick'. But if you scroll down far enough on Knowles's IMDB page, you'll find a credit for a 2012 short film called 'The House of Shades.'"
"In the film, Knowles plays a queer student named Gavin who, having just broken up with his girlfriend, sets his sights on a male athlete. After a night out, the two end up sleeping together," writes LGBTQ Nation.
He later pushed back on his initial statement, adds LGBTQ Nation in a second report. "Far-right Daily Wire host Michael Knowles called for eradicating "Transgenderism" during this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) but insisted he did not call for killing transgender people.
"In response to Knowles's speech, multiple publications published stories saying he called for eliminating trans people. Many influential figures accused him of advocating genocide."
On Twitter, Knowles called out for a retraction from Rolling Stone for their headline, which originally stated, "CPAC Speaker Calls for Transgender People to be 'Eradicated'"
"This headline is libelous, and I demand a retraction," he wrote, tagging the publication.
Rolling Stone conceded to his demands, as did the Daily Wire, which led Ari Drennen, the LGBTQ program director for Media Matters to tweet: "Just like @RollingStone, the @thedailybeast bowed to right wing pressure to change their headline. This is more than mere cowardice. This is joining in the campaign to reduce the very existence of trans people to a matter of ideological disagreement."
"Make no mistake," Drennen continued, "when they say 'transgenderism' they mean 'transgender people.' They want to force us back into closets, out of the country, or into early graves. We will not let them. If you will not stand for transgender people against these maniacs, you will not stand for anyone or anything."