Why transphobia means I’m quitting Twitter

Just a short post, this one. I’m quitting Twitter. I’ve not closed my account, but I’m taking a break which may become permanent. Why? Transphobia!

I’ve been on Twitter for about the past three years – I joined around the same time I launched the blog.

I’ve made some wonderful friends on there – both transgender and trans allies – and I’ve even gone on to meet one of them for coffee. Turns out she only lives up the road, though you wouldn’t know from the accent!

Sad, isn’t it? Grown women behaving like bullies in the school playground

Part of being trans on Twitter is really positive. Got a question about HRT or surgery or anything else transition related and the sisters are there to give some brilliant advice – cos many of them have been there, done it and got the spangly T-shirt.

But the TERFs are taking over and, despite Twitter insisting every six months or so that it’s stepping up it’s efforts to stamp out transphobia (and racism, homophobia and other types of bigotry), nothing has changed.

I’ve reported the prime suspects until I’m blue in the face. Sometimes, this has worked – and two or three of the A-list TERFs have had all their accounts closed down permanently. They’re also banned from opening new ones.

But for every Venice Allen or Miranda Yardley, there are hundreds of other accounts from TERFs spouting the same old hatred and bile day after day.

I’ve reported one account in particular so many times that I’m amazed I don’t have RSI. Most of the time, the reports are ignored. If you’re lucky, you get a message back stating that she’s broken the Twitter rules against hateful conduct (no shit!) and if you’re mega lucky, she gets a ban for 24 hours or so.

But then she’s back the second the ban ends, as hateful as ever, and now probably more so, this time whinging about “female erasure” or some such nonsense.

My life from now on

Twitter, you need to wake the f*ck up and have a mass cull of these accounts once and for all. You admit they’re breaking the rules – and yet you do NOTHING about it. It’s pathetic.

There are one or two “TERF blocker” gizmos, which allow you to block the TERFs – and I’ve used these successfully for some time.

But even if you use them, even if you stay away from the dozy parkers’ accounts and their vitriol, you can’t avoid the TERFs – because trans people take screenshots of the abuse they receive and then debate the fact that nothing’s being done.

I don’t blame the trans people one bit – and I’ve had plenty of rants on there myself. I’ve posted plenty of screenshots.

But, sooner or later, it gets too much – and that’s the state I’m at now. If you keep reading transphobic remarks day in, day out, it’s going to harm your mental health.

You start asking yourself: are transwomen really real women? Is AGP “a thing”? Do the TERFs have a point about transwomen in female-only spaces?

No they don’t have a valid point at all – they’re just too consumed with rage and hatred to be able to see that 99.9% of trans people are awesome, just as 99.9% of cis people are.

Aside from one or two arseholes in the real world, I’ve had nothing but love from people since I came out. So I’m going to focus on those amazing people who love me for me – and just leave the TERFs to it.

They’re not going to change their minds. They’ll be bigots until their dying day. The only thing that will stop them is when Twitter and the police start taking tough action for hate crimes.

Until that day, they’ll carry on. Well, they can carry on without me. I’m sick of the constant battle – I’m going to leave it to trans activists with far thicker skins than mine.

So, farewell, Twitter. And to the lovely people I’ve met on there, like Isla, Rachel, Chrissy, Sylvie, Kate, the other Kate, Ruth, Jess, Anna, Rosie, Mia, Christine, Claire, Natalie, Anya, Tracey, Helen, Keith, Sophie, Nadine, Sarah, Lizzy, Lisa, Martina and everyone else I can’t think of right now, I shall miss you. But you can get in touch on this blog – or follow my Instagram account here.

I may return one day, but certainly not until Twitter’s cleaned up its act. I just don’t need the negativity in my life.

Andie xxx