# March 27, trans man, initially identified as Female shooter kills 6 @ Nashville Christian school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [March 27, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720 "2023-03-27T17:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/61 "2023-03-29T04:05:06Z")
You mean this one? [Beau Correll - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Correll) Because it reads to me like he’s _an anti-Trump Republican_, albeit an activist one. What else was I supposed to get about this guy from that Wiki article? I’m sorry I’m just not understanding who this guy is or what his message about the Nashville shooting is supposed to be. Maybe I’m just out of the loop, I’ll admit that. I’m just not getting what the significance is of _him_ dropping this video. I’ll drop the hijack now, I was just hoping for a little context on a video that was posted with no context. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/62 "2023-03-29T04:10:06Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Can we have a little context around who Beau is? > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Search Beau Correll on Wikipedia. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > So he’s an anti-Trump Republican? > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > If that is all you got from his Wikipedia bio I am at a loss. Wrong bio. He’s not Beau Correll, who looks like [this](https://correllfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Beau-Correll.jpg). He’s [Justin “Beau” King](https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Beau_of_the_Fifth_Column), a leftish independent journalist. He has become something of a viral YouTube sensation in certain circles since he looks like a stereotypical Trumpy redneck, but is anything but. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/63 "2023-03-29T04:12:57Z")
Thank you. I didn’t know who in the hell he was either, and am unsure why it took so many posts to finally have it explained. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/64 "2023-03-29T04:22:54Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > More YouTube of him on a wide variety of topics can be found using Beau of the Fifth Column. Thank you for catching my mistake. I did not intend to promote Justin of the Fifth Column. I plead lateness of the evening and catchiness if the “of the Fifth Column”. You can’t always take the history major out of the girl~it’s such a turn of phrase. I did intend to call attention to the sentiment in the YouTube clip posted by @running_coach, whatever the full name of that Beau is. And wiki Beau Correll I would love to buy a cup of locally roasted coffee if he’d take on some of the most egregious Republican led political shenanigans in my state. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/65 "2023-03-29T04:33:47Z")
Moderating: please either explain why this guy is relevant to the thread, or drop the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/66 "2023-03-29T04:37:15Z")
Happy to. I wanted to apologize for my confusion and acknowledge my ignorance that was fought. ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/67 "2023-03-29T05:22:11Z")
Beau’s commentary above is his take on the MNPD’s reaction time to the incident and what it means regarding whether police response time is enough in future shootings to prevent more deaths. He points out that, yes, there are notes for the officers but just notes not criticisms. Beau is definitely more liberal but he does back up what he talks about with facts. He’s actually one of my favorite YouTubers to watch when it comes to current events and I’d been very interested to see what his take on this was. And the fact that he thinks that their response time was about as quick as was humanly possible but that it’s not enough is what I expected from him. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/68 "2023-03-29T07:58:46Z")
sorry - late to read the mod note ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/69 "2023-03-29T18:15:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > some use neutral 3rd person singular, “It”? Or do you mean the singular “they”? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/70 "2023-03-29T18:18:34Z")
Moderating: This is NOT the place to fight about the use of the singular they. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/71 "2023-04-02T18:06:50Z")
So, has there been any confirmation that the shooter was, in fact, trans? I’m citing the following, from a news source which I consider quite reliable - “Speaking with media hours later, Nashville’s police chief said the killer, Audrey Hale, was transgender and suggested the 28-year-old’s gender identity may have some connection to a motive and a purported manifesto left behind. The shooter’s gender identity has never been verified and police have not said more about it.” Yet further down in the same article, it talks about the right wing response - " Since Monday’s tragedy, some anti-transgender rhetoric has surfaced online and in the media. The headline “Transgender Killer Targets Christian School” was splashed on the front page of the [New York Post](https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1640697000059346946)’s Tuesday edition. Influential Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson said on his [Tuesday night broadcast](https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1640870218216927232) that the trans movement “is the natural enemy” of Christianity. He also claimed there was “a rise in trans terrorism.”" So what, if anything, has been provably stated about the shooter, and their gender identity? > **[Trans people already fighting for rights in Tennessee have a new fear in the...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nashville-shooting-transgender-rights-1.6797599)** > > As Tennessee was mourning those killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school Monday, speculation about the killer's gender identity was quickly weaponized in an ongoing battle against transgender and LGBTQ rights. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/72 "2023-04-02T19:12:47Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > So what, if anything, has been provably stated about the shooter, and their gender identity? The only thing definitive were the listed social media pronouns. Listing your pronouns as he/him is an indication but taking a couple seconds to type some words in a profile isn’t full proof that’s how you’re living your life. It was apparently a recent change. I haven’t seen anything that shows Hale wasn’t still going by Audrey. Also not proof. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/73 "2023-04-02T19:45:47Z")
Has the manifesto been published? That might contain some indication, too. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/74 "2023-04-02T20:11:23Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I haven’t seen anything that shows Hale wasn’t still going by Audrey. Also not proof. I read a story by a mainstream and not notably right-wing news outlet that quoted a friend who made it sound like Hale had come out as trans, but was living in their parents’ (expensive, $700K IIRC) home, and that the parents would not allow Hale to dress as they identified while in the home, so Hale would have to take a change of (gender-affirming) clothes out of the home in a bag every day. In the same article, or an article I read around the same time, the mother was very insistent that she had “just lost [a] daughter,” which would be consistent with Hale being a trans man whose family refused to recognize them as such. I do not recall where I read that, however. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/75 "2023-04-02T20:21:43Z")
Wouldn’t that line also be consistent with a family who had lost a daughter? Unless there were context to show it was a pointed statement. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/76 "2023-04-02T20:38:36Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > and that the parents would not allow Hale to dress as they identified while in the home, so Hale would have to take a change of (gender-affirming) clothes out of the home in a bag every day. There is a widely spread video and photo showing Hale dressed pretty maleish. > **[Evil school shooter appears in college video talking about 'growing as artist'](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/nashville-shooter-audrey-hale-appears-29573360)** > > Less than a year after boasting about how Audrey Hale's college helped develop their 'creative talents' the vile murderer had gunned down six innocent people including three nine-year-old children ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/77 "2023-04-02T20:45:25Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Wouldn’t that line also be consistent with a family who had lost a daughter? Unless there were context to show it was a pointed statement. It would. But I am crediting the reported friend’s statement that the parents refused to acknowledge or accommodate their child’s own asserted gender identity, and doubting that they would suddenly have a change of heart on learning their child had become a mass child-murderer. I am thus drawing the inference that if the mother referred to Hale as her daughter, then Hale more likely than not actually identified as a man. It’s not an unshakable position, but it’s what I have tentatively settled on in light of what little I can gleam from reporting. ETA: Reporting from the Tennessean likewise seems to indicate Hale had recently come to identify as male, and does, at least at some points in the article, refer to Hale using masculine pronouns (but then elsewhere… using female pronouns… and elsewhere showing a concerted effort at avoiding pronouns): > **[Nashville school shooter was ‘obsessive’ about former middle school...](https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2023/03/30/nashville-shooter-audrey-hale-obsessive-former-basketball-team/70061098007/)** > > Former teammates of Audrey Hale, who killed 6 in Nashville school shooting this week, say Hale recently began showing "stalkerish behavior." ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/78 "2023-04-02T22:00:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The only thing definitive were the listed social media pronouns. Listing your pronouns as he/him is an indication but taking a couple seconds to type some words in a profile isn’t full proof that’s how you’re living your life. My experience, knowing a lot of trans people, is that you don’t take those couple of seconds until you are pretty sure you want people to address you by those pronouns. I think it’s overwhelming likely that he was a trans man if he had posted male pronouns on social media. Also, it’s common to come out to friends before family, and it’s common for parents to ignore or reject their child’s preferred pronouns. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/79 "2023-04-02T23:52:54Z")
I read an interview with a friend who Hale had talked to on the phone just before the shooting. The friend said they sometimes went by “Aiden”. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720/80 "2023-04-03T15:09:48Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > The only thing definitive were the listed social media pronouns. Listing your pronouns as he/him is an indication but taking a couple seconds to type some words in a profile isn’t full proof that’s how you’re living your life. > > My experience, knowing a lot of trans people, is that you don’t take those couple of seconds until you are pretty sure you want people to address you by those pronouns. I think it’s overwhelming likely that he was a trans man if he had posted male pronouns on social media. > > Also, it’s common to come out to friends before family, and it’s common for parents to ignore or reject their child’s preferred pronouns. It’s not common to murder children. I know everyone wants to be careful with the gender identity but using what non-murderously insane people do as a measure might not be helpful. Hale’s motivations and thought processes were not normal or common. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-27-trans-man-initially-identified-as-female-shooter-kills-6-nashville-christian-school/981720.md?page=5)