Spiked Reports: It has been over two years since the ‘January 6’ riot at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. For the Democratic elites and their allies in the media, these events live in infamy. By trespassing in the Capitol building, and by obstructing elected representatives from carrying out their roles, the Trumpist mob is said to have brought US democracy to the brink of destruction.

Fast forward to last week, when a different mob of activists tried to storm their state legislature, and the reaction could not have been more different. Around 150 Trans Lives Matter protesters occupied the Oklahoma State Capitol in opposition to a series of Republican bills. Among other things, these bills would ban gender-transition surgery for minors.

By all accounts, the protesters remained peaceful, and an official has said that none of them broke the law. Nevertheless, at some points, the trans activists disrupted the legislature. And there can be no doubt that they were occupying a government building in an effort to prevent elected lawmakers from pursuing their policy agenda. This agenda has a solid democratic mandate, too. Governor Kevin Stitt pledged a statewide ban on minors accessing gender transitioning ahead of November’s Midterms, where he and other Oklahoma Republicans won each race handily.

Despite this, the protest has enjoyed overwhelmingly favourable coverage in the US media. Most liberal outlets adopted the protesters’ framing of the events, claiming that what is at stake is ‘healthcare’ for trans people. Harpers Bazaar, for instance, explains that the protesters occupied the capitol to ‘stand up’ against bills it describes as ‘[banning] gender-affirming surgery and care for young people’.