I hate censorship.

submitted by ArthnoldManacatsaman🇬🇧🌳🟦 from self.LGBDropTheT

Hardly the spiciest of takes, I know, but I have to get things off my chest.

We all know what it feels like to have a community shut down, that's why (I would guess) most of us are here on Saiddit in the first place. But after almost a year of being steeped in TRA nonsense I have to say that the recent banning of SuperStraight strikes me as particularly egregious.

This is not to diminish the enormity of Big Tech censorship of lesbian and female spaces, by any means, but I know I won't be alone in thinking that straight people were... untouchable. We knew the TRAs would overreach one day, and when they came for straight people their nonsense would be shut down fast. And so it was. SuperStraight gained almost thirty thousand followers in three days.

Apparently, however, I was wrong. Heterosexuals who have the wrong opinions are just as susceptible to censorship as the rest of us. But now the gloating and the lies are spreading, since the narrative has been controlled.

It was no coincidence SuperStraight chose the abbreviation SS.

It was a meme started by a bunch of white supremacist 4channers.

lol stay mad superstraights.

and so on. And now all the proof that these claims are blatantly false has evaporated in a cloud of ones and zeros. Other subreddits that have disappeared down the memory hole have been facing the same fate, I was just unaware as I've not touched Reddit in months since it became a woke cesspit.

It's particularly irritating because, especially in our COVID times, social media constitutes so much of what might be considered the public square nowadays. This makes the typical pro-censorship arguments like

Reddit is a private company and can remove whatever content it likes

so grating. Yes, my freedom of speech hasn't been violated in the strictest legal sense of the word, since I have not been arrested or prosecuted by the government, but if I am banned from all conventional social media I am destined to become vox clamantis in deserto - a voice screaming in the wilderness.

As was highlighted in another post here from a couple of hours ago, if dissenting voices are all silenced, and one viewpoint is privileged as the truth, then people will second guess their own dissenting beliefs:

Am I the only one who who thinks a trans woman isn't biologically indistinguishable from a woman? Surely not, but nobody here is saying anything otherwise... maybe I'm the crazy one and should just keep my opinions to myself?

This is profoundly damaging for several reasons. Firstly, I believe in the power of human agency. I believe that people are able to make up their own minds about the issues that matter to them (and many more besides) given enough information. We all know the risks this could pose to younger LGB people.

But it's not just younger LGB people, it's our potential allies (as much as I dislike using that word) who are only tangentially related to the LGB 'community'. My own mother was quite surprised at the extent of my criticism of 'transsexuals' because she 'thought you were all part of the same thing'. No mother, absolutely not.

I don't need to tell you all how absolutely exhausting this bullshit is. I frequently want to disconnect from all of this and live in a cabin in the woods with my books. There are no howling transmaidens there.

SuperStraight may be gone now, but it was refreshing to see the shafts of light shining through the chink in the armour. The pro-trans subreddits might be fawning about validity and the beautiful femininity of testicle pubes, but it was clear that scores (literally) of people are just not having it.

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

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[–]IridescentAnacondastrictly dickly 32 insightful - 1 fun32 insightful - 0 fun33 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

r/superstraight and r/LGBS were banned because they demonstrated solidarity between LGB and straights, against the cancer that TRAs rerpresent.

[–]Butterlogs✨Superlesbian ✨ 24 insightful - 1 fun24 insightful - 0 fun25 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

If LGBs speak out against the utter bullshit that TRAs put us through, who will they piggyback off of? LGB people are the only reason that they have so much authority in the first place. Without us, there wouldn’t be nearly as much talk about “““““TrAnS RiGhTs””””” as there is currently

[–]censorshipment 13 insightful - 6 fun13 insightful - 5 fun14 insightful - 6 fun -  (2 children)

The TRAs of Reddit used the BLM movement.

Open Letter to Steve Huffman and the Board of Directors of Reddit, Inc– If you believe in standing up to hate and supporting black lives, you need to act - https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/gyyqem/open_letter_to_steve_huffman_and_the_board_of/

[–]MezozoicGayoldschool gay 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

He was banned for same that he was using as justification to ban other people and now he is angry?

Interesting how he is saying that "Sitewide Rules / Content Policy Enforcement on Reddit is utterly and completely broken" - which is true, but he says that it is broken not because it can be abused to silence people and is used by transgenders to silence LGB people, instead he is saying that it is broken because it can be abused against anyone and not only against people he see as enemies.

Comments there are golden and so self-reflective: https://i.imgur.com/qKetq1I.png

They brigade other subreddits, mass reporting people they disagree for nothing, and then they are angry when their hateful comments being reported by random people.

[–]JulienMayfair 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

LGB people are the only reason that they have so much authority in the first place. Without us, there wouldn’t be nearly as much talk about “““““TrAnS RiGhTs””””” as there is currently

That was true, past tense, but the problem now is that Trans Rights Inc. has tons of corporate support, sometimes extorted, but corporate support nonetheless. Back when LGB activism was grassroots, we built these organizations. I knew people who wrote large personal checks to local Gay & Lesbian Centers just to keep the lights on. But now that they have our organizations and corporate revenue streams, they don't need us anymore. We are disposable, and if we become an annoyance, we are simply a problem to be dealt with.

[–]BEB 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Same with all the formerly-respected US organizations and media now receiving money from Trans, Inc. - they don't need us little people with our little donations anymore:

Democracy Now!, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, National Organization for Women, NARAL, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, United Nations Women - the list goes on and on and on...

[–]Three_oneFourWanted for thought crimes in countless ideologies 23 insightful - 1 fun23 insightful - 0 fun24 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

That's the biggest threat to their existence: Everyone else cooperating and collectively deciding to not take their shit anymore

[–]pancakewaffleSip the nuance 7 insightful - 3 fun7 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Or as reddit liked to call it "promoting hate towards a marginalized or vulnerable group. The community had become increasingly exclusionary with hateful content that is counter to its original satirical intent"

[–]Butterlogs✨Superlesbian ✨ 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

American conservatives have been speaking on this for quite some time. I thought they were being crybabies and probably did something egregious to get banned, because I disagreed with their political view and had big tech to reinforce my opinion. The censorship of the S+ community has made me realize just how influential big tech is in controlling public opinion. In more ways than one, the Super movement has been an eye opener for many people.

[–]BEB 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Even before the Super Scandal there was the banning of some US right wing social media with the excuse being the Capitol riot. That troubled me because even though I think that Donald Trump and many of his fanatic devotees are ridiculous, violent and perhaps dangerous to the US as a representative republic, I am close to a First Amendment absolutist.

I agree that the Super Scandal probably also opened some unaware people's eyes about Big Tech censorship.

[–]JulienMayfair 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I give conservatives credit for the fact that they warned us about this going back to the 1990s. I saw it first hand in grad school where a number of my colleagues were some of the nastiest ideologues I'd ever met up to that point. They are so saturated with self-righteousness that the idea they might be wrong about anything is absolutely unthinkable.

[–]SuperGayIsOkay 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That's what's so scary. Power tripping self-righteousness and fanaticism are not exclusive to any particular political leaning, and yet the trans community genuinely seems to believe it can do no wrong in the name of transgenderism. Not even the LGB is immune from fanaticism. That's why we must always be very aware of our actions and be civil even towards other groups that may not be supportive or are opposed, such as religious organizations. The trans community does not appear to have any real empathy for anyone else, and is so narcissistically focused on maintaining and furthering its power that it can't be bothered to do any introspection.

[–]censorshipment 12 insightful - 8 fun12 insightful - 7 fun13 insightful - 8 fun -  (2 children)

I think you all are missing the big picture. White trans/nonbinary/"queer" people (particularly males) are now considered the most oppressed/marginalized minority group. This is so much about race rather than sexuality. White straight males finally have a voice again after decades of "colored people", white women and lgb people fighting for rights. Now all "cis" people, who aren't TRAs, are the enemy which includes minorities and straight white women.

[–][deleted] 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Intersectionality at its finest. Somehow we get straight white men at the bottom of the totem pole being able to harass and bully everyone else and if we dare to speak out against it we're the bigots.

[–]BEB 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

And all it took was putting on a dress...

[–]GreykittymommaMagical lady 💜 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I am finding so many like minded souls in this mess. You expressed my perspective on this situation beautifully, thank you!

Slippery slopes all around, be careful friends!

[–][deleted] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

The fact that they have the power to:

-Change laws such as Biden's executive order, Canada making misgendering illegal

-Ban anyone from any social media platform for having the 'wrong' opinion

-Rewrite history (stonewall, claiming superstraight was a nazi movement)

-Strongarm doctors into transitioning young children

-Bully academics out of researching any negatives to transgenderism (most studies on detransitioners cannot get funding because they get shut down)

While STILL claiming to be one of the most oppressed groups, AND have people still believing that, is terrifying.

[–]Butterlogs✨Superlesbian ✨ 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

No oppressed group in history has ever had the amount of power that trans people have. Other oppressed groups just wanted to be treated like people and live their lives under the radar, but that is not enough when your entire political platform is built on being the victim

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

No oppressed group in history has ever had the amount of power that trans people have.

No other oppressed group has also tried to infringe on the rights of someone else. I don't know if you've seen the youtube documentary T--f Wars by Karen Actually but one of the women interviewed mentioned that trans activism is the only civil rights movement that directly steps on the rights of others (women and LGBs mostly). Now they're trying to step on the rights of the straight majority, and at least for now, they're getting away with it.

Edit: censored the word 't--f'

[–]BEB 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The very funny Karen Actually of "T*rf Wars" got booted from Twitter. I don't know if it's permanent.

[–]BEB 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

And the difference between transgender identified males "oppression" and some other groups oppression (black men, women) is that all transgender identified males have to do is change their appearance and their oppression disappears!

[–]SuperGayIsOkay 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Let's also not forget:

• a man who looks like an ogre can harass and defund a women's rape shelter for not serving male

• a man who behaves like a creep with serious pedo-vibes can harass minority women with nuisance lawsuits for refusing to wax his ladyballs

• they get away regularly with death threats and sexual harassment, particularly against lesbians

[–]BEB 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

To add: A man who's committed horrific crimes can self-identify as a woman and be housed in women's prisons, where most of the women are non-violent offenders with a history of having been physically and sexually abused.

[–]SuperGayIsOkay 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If a man is an abuser, a woman can be shamed in court by a sitting judge for referring to him accurately by the correct pronouns for his biological sex. His self-declared identity trumps objective reality.

[–]Retardation_station 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Heterosexuals who have the wrong opinions are just as susceptible to censorship as the rest of us.

Not to be a dick, but that's incredibly obvious and has been for years. I honestly thought everyone was aware that censorship knows no identity. It's always been about money/power.

[–]dreamgermsbisexual nightmare 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

But it's not just younger LGB people, it's our potential allies (as much as I dislike using that word) who are only tangentially related to the LGB 'community'. My own mother was quite surprised at the extent of my criticism of 'transsexuals' because she 'thought you were all part of the same thing'. No mother, absolutely not.

This! My mother had the same kind of reaction as well. That’s why I think LGB Drop the T is so important. A lot of everyday people, especially straight people, lump us all together or view us as all the same or having the same goals, etc. Then you end up with people saying things like “See?? Conservatives were right! You give gay people rights, and it becomes a slippery slope to deviancy!” when most gay and bisexual people just want basic rights and tolerance. We worked so hard for so many years, only to have the TQ+ come in and shit all over everything. Now people see these weirdos who talk about “little girls being kinky” and forcing everyone to change their language for them and all of their bullying and rape rhetoric, and think the LGB community is part of that, supports that, etc. It’s so beyond frustrating.