Hamish Steele, the gay creator of an LGBTQ+-inclusive cartoon Dead End: Paranormal Park said he will “be on the down low for the foreseeable” future following “scary,” “extremely nasty weird homophobic and antisemitic emails” that he received since transphobic billionaire Elon Musk and other right-wing anti-LGBTQ X users began a campaign against Steele and his cartoon (which was cancelled in 2023).

“I have mostly been very ok today and found it all quite funny, while really appreciating everyone who has reached out, but the extremely nasty weird homophobic and antisemitic emails have started rolling in and it is getting a little scary,” Steele recently wrote on his social media account, according to the website Bleeding Cool. “I will just say today is much much worse and I am going to basically be on the down low for the foreseeable. My apologies.”

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Right-wing social media users began targeting Steele after he allegedly celebrated the September 10 murder of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk. While screenshots circulated of Steele reportedly referring to Kirk as “a random Nazi” (presumably for Kirk’s past racist and antisemitic comments), it’s unclear if Steele actually published the comment in question, as he denied that he ever “celebrated” Kirk’s slaying.

“My Instagram comments are now flooded with replies saying I AM CHARLIE KIRK and that I celebrated his death (which I never did) and all I can think of is [Drag Race performer] Yvie Oddley shouting ‘WHAT HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?'” Steele wrote, according to Newsweek.

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The campaign against Steele worsened after the anti-LGBTQ+ X account for Libs of TikTok posted about Steele’s cartoon, claiming that Netflix is “promoting” the show to kids and “pushing pro-transgender on children.” The cartoon was cancelled in 2023, is rated as acceptable to children seven years old and above, and has a trans main character, Barney, voiced by trans actor Zach Barack.

The show doesn’t really explore Barney’s transition, but it does examine the familial rejection he experienced for being trans, as well as the acceptance he finds while working alongside others in a haunted theme park.

Musk told his followers on X that he cancelled his Netflix subscription to protest the show, adding, “This is not ok,” and “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”

Responding to the controversy, Barack, the trans voice actor for Barney, responded to Libs of TikTok, writing, “hey, i play barney! im trans & have been out for 10 years. im happier than ive ever been & if someone had shown me this television program as a kid it wouldve saved me years of hating myself! you can fear monger all you want, but kids & parents have told me it saved their lives!!”

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