Richards was not saying (as I understand) that gender being seen as either performative or a fixed identity was killing people. People don’t attack somebody because “that’s an identity, and identity sucks”, they do so typically because groups cultivate disrespect for certain kinds of people. Reactionaries have trouble defining themselves, so they look for groups to blame and define themselves against.
It is a deep problem, because violence against transgender people is based upon other already existing forms of oppression. Transwomen are confronted with bigotry against women and against homosexuals. The latter can go either way, because some will see them as gay if they like men, and others will see them as gay if they like women. Nevermind amplifying this effect my compounding it with other forms of bigotry they might encounter, such as based upon their race, age, class, politics, and other factors.
