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Netflix鈥檚 newest true crime horror series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, has provoked a wave of criticism 鈥� particularly from 17c起草社区IA+ viewers 鈥� over what many see as dangerously irresponsible and harmful representations of transgender people, homosexuality, and more.

The series is the third instalment in Ryan Murphy鈥檚 Monster franchise, which previously profiled Jeffrey Dahmer, then the Menendez Brothers.

It reimagines the life of American murderer Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam, through a stylised lens of horror, weaving in fictionalised encounters with cultural figures like Alfred Hitchcock and Christine Jorgensen, and dramatising Gein鈥檚 descent into violence.

While critics have taken aim at its graphic imagery, pacing, and factual liberties, the show has met an especially fierce counter-offensive from the 17c起草社区IA+ community who warn that it traffics in old, dangerous tropes.

How Monster: The Ed Gein Story weaponises queerness

One of the most provocative sequences in Monster imagines Alfred Hitchcock warning actor Anthony Perkins that his 鈥渟ecret” 鈥� his homosexuality 鈥� is a 鈥渟ickness鈥�.

In real life, Anthony Perkins was rumoured to be gay for decades, but remained closeted his entire life. The series shows Perkins, played by Joe Pollari, in a downlow relationship with Tab Hunter. Hunter, a beloved Hollywood heartthrob at the time, came out as gay and spoke about his relationship with Perkins in his memoir Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star in 2005.

The show then draws a parallel between Perkins’ “secret” and Gein’s 鈥� his violent, gruesome acts 鈥� blurring the repression of homosexuality and pathology violence in ways many viewers found distressing.

In other scenes, Murphy鈥檚 version of Gein includes him wearing women鈥檚 clothes, and obsessing over photographs of Christine Jorgensen 鈥� the first person in the US to have gender affirming surgery in the 1950s, who then used her celebrity to become a lifelong advocate for the trans community.

However, there is no credible historical evidence that Gein cross-dressed, or even knew who Jorgensen was.

By weaving a real trans pioneer into the story of a murderer, the show revives a long-standing cinematic trope that conflates gender nonconformity with psychosis, disguise, and violence, a trope which聽has been repeatedly condemned by 17c起草社区IA+ advocates.

Another of the show鈥檚 most criticised moments involves Gein using a human woman’s face as a mask to 鈥渢urn into a lady鈥�, and specifically in order to terrify children. Many viewers have argued that this scene not only distorts history but directly fuels anti-trans 鈥済roomer鈥� narratives currently used to attack trans and queer people in real-world politics.

Viewer backlash surfaces on X and Threads

Within hours of streaming, queer and trans viewers began condemning various elements in Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

X user @maxvsmonsters that the show 鈥渋s actually one of the most disgusting and disrespectful pieces of media to ever exist”.

On Threads, @worriersmusic the series as 鈥渨ildly irresponsible and tone deaf in the current climate for trans people.鈥�

Another viewer, @and_mayhem_ensued, one of the show鈥檚 invented plotlines: 鈥淐hristine Jorgensen did not know Ed Gein 鈥� despite what Ryan Murphy wants you to think. Once again, he鈥檚 throwing the 17c起草社区IA+ community under the bus just to make his serial killer shows more salacious.鈥�

Thread user @cynthiaaajg_ : 鈥淲orth noting: there鈥檚 no solid historical evidence that Ed Gein was a habitual cross-dresser in the sense of identifying as female or living publicly in women鈥檚 clothing.鈥�

Meanwhile, @renehta that they found it 鈥渃razy鈥� that 鈥淩yan Murphy made Pose 鈥� a show that created unprecedented opportunities for trans actors and stories 鈥� but now decides 2025 is the year to associate Ed Gein with trans people by having him terrorise some little kids by 鈥榯urning into a lady鈥� with a human skin mask after seeing pictures of Christine Jorgensen in a newspaper.鈥�

They continued: 鈥淟ike creating the association is already really bad, but the added layer of having that specific element terrorise small children is insane and really feeds into the 鈥榞roomer鈥� narrative that has already done immense harm to queer people.鈥�

Why the outrage around Monsters: The Ed Gein Story matters

The outrage surrounding Monster: The Ed Gein Story is not simply about one show鈥檚 creative choices. In a global climate where trans identities are under increasing attack 鈥� politically, socially, and physically 鈥� media portrayals that blur the line between queerness and monstrosity can have tangible, dangerous consequences.

As @maxvsmonsters , the show 鈥渋s gonna do irreparable damage to the trans community.鈥� The sentiment has been echoed across queer online spaces, where viewers say the series plays into harmful myths rather than challenging them.

Ryan Murphy has long been credited for ground-breaking representation in shows like Pose, which centred trans women of colour and introduced audiences to a more authentic depiction of queer life.

With Monster: The Ed Gein Story, many feel he has undone that legacy 鈥� reverting to shock tactics at the expense of the very communities he once championed.