Elon Musk says 'cis' and 'cisgender' are considered slurs on Twitter
Twitter owner Elon Musk announced that platform users could face suspensions for using the terms 'cis' and 'cisgender'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Twitter owner Elon Musk announced Wednesday that the terms "cis" and "cisgender" are considered slurs on the platform.
"Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing account to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions," Musk tweeted. "The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs on this platform."
Musk's statement was made in response to a tweet from cultural commentator, James Esses, who claimed to be the target of activists on the platform.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Esses post to Twitter about the "cis" term went viral on Wednesday.
"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,'" Esses wrote on Twitter. "Just imagine if the roles were reversed."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Musk's decision prompted the two terms to trend on Twitter and Esses thanked Musk for "standing up for reality."
Esses later posted to Twitter that he had "been bombarded with death wishes and messages calling me a ‘faggot’ and ‘cissy’" in response to his tweet.
"All because I dared to reject an ideological label being imposed upon me," he added. "These people, who are so quick to throw the word ‘bigot’, need to take a long, hard look in the mirror."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Popular Twitter account, The Rabbit Hole, polled users on whether "cis" is a slur to which 78.2% of accounts responded "Yes."
"People overwhelmingly reject this obvious slur that bigots are trying to impose," Musk tweeted in response.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Journalist and cultural commentator, Genevieve Gluck, pointed out the word "cisgender" was coined by German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch, who believed "the sensuality that spontaneously unfolds between a child and an adult is something wonderful" and claimed "there's nothing wrong with pedophilia" or exposing children to pornography.
"Yup, the contemptible creep that manufactured the term ‘cis’ has serious problems," Musk responded. "Ignore him."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}One user asked if they would be allowed to refer to themselves as "cis" to which Musk said to "call yourself anything you want."
Twitter currently defines a slur as language that "intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category."