This post is “FYI only” for blahaj lemmy members. It is not a debate, and is not intended for non blahaj lemmy users to weigh in and offer opinions.
I recently received reports of a feddit.uk user espousing transphobia. Specifically, this was a feddit.uk user refusing to use the word cis, repeating the “adult human female” dog whistle, and claiming that trans women are not women. I approached a member of the feddit.uk admin team and raised my concerns and sought clarification of their stance on posts like this, where the transphobia is mostly dogwhistles, and “civil disagreement” on the validity of trans folk.
I was told by the feddit.uk admin that their preferred response is this kind of transphobia is to “sort it out through discussion and voting”. However, the comments in question are currently more upvoted than downvoted, and little “sorting out” has occurred. The posts remain in place.
At this point, the admin stopped responding to my messages despite being active elsewhere on lemmy. When it became clear they were ignoring my messages and had no intention of removing the posts in question, I made the decision to defederate the instance.
I know some folk agree with the feddit.uk admins approach of pushback through discussion and voting, but this instance is not designed to be that kind of space. Blahaj lemmy is meant to be a place where we can avoid the rampant transphobia universally visible on nearly every other social media platform, and where we can exist without needing to debate our right to do so.
Obviously I’m not on blahaj, but I think the decision is pretty on point for the goals of blahaj.
It also makes me disappointed in feddit.uk. “Leave it to discussion/votes” is bullshit and just support for the behavior.
Edit: The admin responded elsewhere with “we want to make sure we comply with the law”.
My comment remains unchanged. Allowing this is support. Fuck your bullshit law. You’re explicitly supporting this bullshit by your inaction.
Good riddance, fuck TERF island. If communities don’t like this change they can move to an instance that isn’t filled with and supported by transphobes.
I think if you want your users to avoid stuff like this you shouldn’t put in a spotlight like you did here.
This is called transparency, not putting it in a spotlight. We don’t close our eyes from the world, we just don’t want to be confronted with hate and discrimination everywhere and have nobody do anything about it. So if drastic actions like this have to be taken to achieve this, it’s good to be informed about that.
Sentiment here seems to be appreciation for the actions taken, so why do you think you can speak for us on this behalf?
These are tough calls to make. On the one hand I applaud the step taken to protect the community hosted by this instance, on the other I also find that simply cuting ties and conversation only furthers the divide.
Sure we should not have to defend the validity of our existence, and also realise that most hate leaves little place for heathy discussions. But in avoiding their echo chambers I find we quiet ours too, we renounce our visibility for our comfort and theirs.
I guess I wish there were other ways to warn users about potentially triggering instances rather than outright defederating, but I do understand your main motives.
You are absolutely welcome to maintain an account on another instance and here if you want to have the option of having those discussions. And I don’t mean that in a “Well, there’s the door” way. What I’m trying to say is that if you don’t want to have the types of conversations you’re talking about, it’s currently very hard to find spaces that make that possible. That’s why lbz exists in the form it does. However, I completely understand that some people do want that opportunity. And if that’s you, you’re welcome to maintain multiple accounts. You’ll always have a space here, but you can also use instances that give you access to less protective spaces.
deleted by creator
Censorship lmao. I get where you’re coming from, but pulling a ostrich with your head in the sand is not a productive way to go about it.
I know some folk agree with the feddit.uk admins approach of pushback through discussion and voting, but this instance is not designed to be that kind of space. Blahaj lemmy is meant to be a place where we can avoid the rampant transphobia universally visible on nearly every other social media platform, and where we can exist without needing to debate our right to do so.
deleted by creator
Go fuck yourself as well. Kindly.
trans women are not women
Wasn’t this a recent court ruling in the UK? Which isn’t great.
I don’t know all of the terminology, but the entire argument over it just seems so stupid, how does letting trans people exist bother you in any way?
I believe the court ruling was the legal meaning only. When a legal text says “female” it implies biological female (as sex, not gender) which is understandable. Same for medication notices etc…
I’ve not checked though but the main source of fight is whether we’re talking about sex or gender. There are two sides, the ones that assume “female”/“women” refer to sex by default and the ones that assume it refers to gender by default.
What’s “adult human female” referring to? Asking so I can keep an eye out for this in the future
It’s a transphobic dog whistle. Popularised by UK transphobes. The implication is that trans women aren’t women, and when you see it used, that’s what they’re really saying.
