Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, has claimed that the words “cis” and “cisgender” are considered “slurs” on the platform. This statement comes after a user claimed to have been attacked by a “trans activist” for rejecting the word cis for not identifying with it. Musk has announced that harassing accounts will receive temporary suspensions in response to ongoing and targeted harassment.
Following the rise in popularity of the words “cis” and “cisgender” On Twitter, Merriam-Webster, a well-known dictionary publisher, has included definitions of both terms for better understanding. According to the definition, “cisgender” describes someone whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth.
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
Additionally, the publisher clarified that “cisgender” is not considered a slur, as its variants are mostly used in a neutral way.
JK Rowling, the renowned author of Harry Potter, expressed her opinion on the term “cis”, qualifying it as an “ideological language” that implies believing in the unfalsifiable concept of gender identity.
‘Cis’ is ideological language, signifying belief in the unfalsifiable concept of gender identity. You have a perfect right to believe in unprovable essences that may or may not match the sexed body, but the rest of us have a right to disagree, and to refuse to adopt your jargon.
—JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 21, 2023
Elon Musk endorsed JK Rowling in a new tweet, she affirms that each person has the right to believe in unprovable essences, but they also have the right to disagree and reject jargon used in relation to gender identity.
Twitter’s policy against hate speech does not specify the words, but does prohibit repeated use of slurs or content that degrades or reinforces negative stereotypes or detrimental to protected groups.
Fountain: Forbes
