Allen Skillicorn is spreading hate. He has posted anti-transgender content on the social media platform, X. Here’s a description of his latest attack.

On Dec. 8, 2023, he posted a cartoon video by Matt Walsh about a turkey identifying as a human. The host of the Thanksgiving dinner challenges the bird because, we assume, he won’t roast a human. He asks the turkey questions clearly referencing genitalia, this is to determine if the turkey is human. The turkey explains what transgender experts know, that the sex organs one is born with don’t always match the individual’s gender identity. Though this turkey wasn’t born with human genitalia, it feels just like a human feels.

Cut to the end: Picture the turkey butchered, in a roasting pan, held by the smiling host at the open door of the oven. The message? We’ll decide what you are and what rights you deserve.

This isn’t a funny cartoon. It’s a message to transgender people, a threat, a reference to the ovens Nazis used to exterminate gay and “deviant” persons along with the Jewish people.

At the Town Council meeting Dec. 19, 2023, a town resident, Ms. Culp, called Mr. Skillicorn out. The next day, Skillicorn posted the cartoon again. The following day, he posted the clip of Ms. Culp’s comments.

It does not deny Mr. Skillicorn his First Amendment rights to say that targeting groups of people not conforming to his belief system is unethical as well as dangerous. It encourages others to target those he’s targeting. Anyone who denigrates or threatens an individual or a group is not fit to be on our Town Council.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.