Are we pro-war if a trans woman tells us to be?

What does it say about queer publications that proudly flaunt the video response of Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a trans spokesperson for the Ukraine war, to Republican Senator J.D. Vance as a win against transphobia?

Attitude Magazine celebrated her clapback against Vance after he penned a letter of inquiry to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines questioning her role in Ukraine’s war effort. Absent from his letter of concern is any mention of her gender identity.

LGBTQ+ activist Peter Tatchell even regards her as a hero. But to think the story here is that a trans woman stands up to a transphobic senator is reductive and ignorant. Ashton-Cirillo, the journalist turned junior sergeant and spokesperson who has not been shy about leveraging her gender identity to work the US taxpayers, has much to answer for.

When a Russian prankster impersonating the former Ukrainian president called her she, believing he was Petro Poroshenko, candidly spoke about the war, offering a rare glimpse behind the curtain we are so rarely exposed to in western media. When the prankster asked what she thought about “Russian orcs,” she answered, “Russians are not European…Russians are Asian and ultimately they do come from the Mongols, they do come from a grouping…of people who are wanting to be slaves and want to be led, just as it was from the days of Genghis Khan.”

Ashton-Cirillo believes that any challenge to the legitimacy of her position is simply “Russian propaganda.” An American trans woman who traveled to Eastern Europe to fight in a war is outspoken about her racism against…Asians? Who wouldn’t have questions?

She continues, “I wish the rest of Europe and the Western world understood that Europe ends at Ukraine. We are protecting European values and Western values.”

Her message is clear: Ukraine is more like us than them. But she isn’t alone in pushing this narrative.

The Advocate, a major queer publication, reported on Ukrainians efforts to advance LGBTQ+ rights (only since the war began and funding from western liberals became an existential necessity for Ukraine). The article, a quick 30-second read, reports that while 69% of Ukrainians believe homosexuality should not be accepted, Zelensky has attempted to extend LGBTQ+ rights by professing his support for a civil partnership law. Despite a 28,000 signature petition to legalize same-sex marriage, Zelensky is regrettably unable to amend the constitution during wartime.

Does this sound like a progressive, liberal society ready to embrace trans people?

Sarah Ashton-Cirillo is not a hero. She is a racist propagandist whose calculated role is to give westerners the impression that Ukraine is a liberal society worthy of endless support, despite the mounting risk of nuclear conflict. Vance is right to question her background and role in Ukraine just as he is right to question the U.S. funding of Ukraine. As he says in an interview with Fox News, “Five years from now, we’re going to find out that between the Clintons and a number of American private equity firms and other hyper-global corporations that, you’re going to find a lot of people have gotten rich from this.”

Being trans does not shield you from scrutiny, especially when acting as an operative in a conflict with a nuclear power. Blindly cheerleading anyone who happens to qualify as LGBTQ+ while remaining ignorant of the context is reckless and irresponsible.