Twitter owner Elon Musk signaled that the words “cis” and “cisgender,” often used by transgender advocates to denigrate and de-normalize normal people, will now be considered slurs on the platform.
Musk made this commitment in response to a tweet by writer and trainee psychotherapist James Esses, who said he received a barrage of tweets using “cis” as a term of abuse after he stated his wish not to be referred to by it.
Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions.
The words “cis” or “cisgender” are considered slurs on this platform.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023
“Yesterday, after posting a Tweet saying that I reject the word ‘cis’ and don’t wish to be called it, I receive a slew of messages from trans activists calling me ‘cissy’ and telling me that I am ‘cis’ “whether or not I like it”. Just imagine if the roles were reversed,” said Esses.
“Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions,” said Musk in response.
“The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs on this platform.”
Musk’s comment led to a flurry of interactions in the thread below. One commenter, feminist writer Genevieve Gluck, highlighted the origins of the term “cisgender” — coined by German “sexologist” Volkmar Sigusch, who also conducted research into “child sexuality.”
Thank you!
And for those who don't know, here is some background on the origin of "cisgender," as coined by German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch.https://t.co/09oyTRcFz6— Genevieve Gluck (@WomenReadWomen) June 21, 2023
From Gluck’s linked tweet:
According to Dagmar Herzog, author of Sex after Fascism: Memory and Morality in Twentieth-Century Germany, Volkmar Sigusch and his colleague Gunter Schmidt, with whom he published research on child sexuality in the 70’s, also argued that exposing children to pornography – a well-known grooming tactic of pedophiles – was completely harmless.
“Volkmar Sigusch and Gunter Schmidt argued provocatively that the representation of sex, per se, did no damage to youth or children, and that the kind of pornography in which sex was ‘represented without prejudices as a pleasure-filled social activity … is exactly the kind that one could without worries give to children and adolescents,'” Herzog wrote.
If Twitter does indeed classify the term “cisgender” as a slur or term of abuse, it will be the first time that a mainstream term or talking point of the political left has been determined to be off-limits by a major social media platform.
Previously, this has only occurred in relation to topics discussed by conservatives, including skepticism of official coronavirus policies and questions about fraud in the 2020 election.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
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