Image of Pride event attendee altered to include comment about transgender children

CLAIM: Photo shows a participant at a Pride event wearing a T-shirt with the words “trans kids are sexy.”

AP’S ASSESSMENT: Altered image. The photo was digitally manipulated to change the T-shirt. The original image shows the individual was wearing a plain white T-shirt.

THE FACTS: As the LGBTQ+ community and allies mark Pride month, social media users are sharing misrepresentations relating to the weeks-long celebration.

One image shared on Instagram and other platforms in recent days is purporting to show an attendee at a Pride event wearing a shirt that says “trans kids are sexy.” The individual is also wearing sunglasses and a rainbow wristband.

But the photo has been digitally manipulated.

Searches show the original image was published by The Desert Sun, a newspaper in California, in 2021, and that the person in the photo was wearing a plain white T-shirt.

“The Desert Flaggers perform along Palm Canyon Drive during the Palm Springs Pride Parade in downtown Palm Springs, Calif., on November 7, 2021,” reads the caption on the image.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.