If this sounds like a very layered subsect of the internet, it is. It’s a deeply dangerous theory, first popularized in a now-deleted video from YouTuber Esoteric Poster 1388, that has since reached Reddit and the internet’s “biggest stalker community” Kiwi Farms. These “trap threads” are allegedly being set up through a series of text chats on Discord, a discussion service for gamers, then posted to the imageboard to lure in “troubled” boys. The allegation: A “cabal of deranged homosexuals” are posting “trap threads, gay threads, and encouragement for people to take hormones,” as if to trick users on /r9k/ into being transgender or gender nonconforming. This sinister call to arms is at the heart of a complicated, transphobic conspiracy theory about 4chan’s imageboard /r9k/, known for its blatant bigotry within the already-somewhat-toxic anonymous website. Less shitty genes in the world and more traps for me.” “I won’t rest until every sissy boy on /r9k/ has started HRT, or at the very least crossdressing. “First victim of the night,” the transcript read. Warning: References to transphobic, homophobic, ableist, and racial slurs.
