A record of my experience being censored and deplatformed by the moderators of the gendercritical subreddit for denouncing collaboration with right-wing anti-feminists

My initial post

I posted the following on the gendercritical subreddit:

If you empower, legitimise and allow yourself to be co-opted by right-wing anti-feminists, you are no radical feminist but an enemy of women. We must condemn collaboration in the strongest terms and take our movement back.

ACTIVISM

There was a recent post on this sub that linked to a supposedly gender critical article on a hard-right crypto-fascist propaganda magazine funded by the Koch brothers. (Directly linking to right-wing websites is against the rules of this sub. I reported the post, but it has neither been taken down or marked.) When I pointed this out, I got responses defending the magazine as unideological and devoted to “free speech” and defending the (supposedly feminist) author’s decision to accept a space on that platform because she’s been deplatformed everywhere else. My follow-up comment was downvoted to invisibility. Here‘s another comment where I gave sources (warning: pro-TRA sources and mentions of the T*RF slur) alleging that ‘radical feminist’ groups like The Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) were working hand in hand with Christian right wing groups. Many of the prominent people and self-styled leaders of the movement have also made the choice to work with right-wing anti-feminists. I was hoping to have these allegations debunked as baseless smears. (I am still waiting for this.) Here is another recent post about WoLF, where many of the comments are arguing for the necessity of collaboration with right-wing anti-feminists.

It is true that both the left and the right are dominated by anti-feminist misogynistic men. But the difference is ideological. Right-wing ideology (Christian evangelical patriarchy, fascism) opposes abortion on religious grounds, sees women as breeders for the nation, advocates for genocide of non-white peoples (half of them women), advocates for the genocide or ‘conversion’ of gay people, and strongly supports a strict division of naturalised gender roles. The complete and utter subjugation of women is their ultimate aim. These are our ideological enemies. Misogynistic men on the left, on the other hand, are not ideologically motivated to oppose feminism. They simply fail to practise the egalitarianism and radicalism inherent in most leftist ideologies. Radical feminism is itself left-wing; it is neither right-wing or centrist. The failing of the right is in their principles; the failing of the left is in practice.

Allying with them is also a stupid and counterproductive strategy to combat de-platforming, because you are tarring yourselves and the rest of us with the taint of fascism and right-wing misogyny. In fact, as an anti-fascist and radical feminist, I support the de-platforming of fascists and their allies and collaborators, no matter what label they wear. Nobody owes evil a platform. (I do not support the de-platforming of innocent people in the movement, who are tarred by association when they have never made this choice. Those who make the choice to ally with the right are causing damage to those of us who reject such alliances.)

The only reason you would ever think of running into the arms of fascists when you feel the slightest resistance from the left and centre is if you’re not in that much danger from fascism (i.e. you are White). I am a radical feminist Third World woman, and White women who think it’s OK to jump in bed with fascists and other right-wing misogynists will just end up pushing us out of the movement. The racism of ‘radical feminists’ is why I have been alienated from radical feminism for my entire life. But not any more. This is my home, and they are just squatters who wear it as a label but don’t live it. I will not surrender radical feminism to these unprincipled people who do nothing but stab women in the back, discredit our movement and empower our enemies.

I can’t feel safe in a movement where so many people are OK with allying with anti-feminists and fascists, and where people aren’t speaking up against this. I know that liberal trans rights activism is misogynist and anti-women as fuck, and I know how urgent all these fights for female spaces and against gender identity laws are. I know how urgent it is to prevent these ‘charities’ from transing children and causing irreversible damage to them. But we we must not ally with anti-trans anti-feminists just because of our shared opposition to gender identity laws, etc, because that is wrong and it’s going to hurt women, particularly women like me. Abortion rights are not a lower priority than exclusive female spaces.

You have a choice: are you standing in solidarity with women who are the victims of fascism, or are you more interested in betraying us and your principles to avoid a slight discomfort (as a radical truth-teller and activist you have to be prepared for much worse than de-platforming) or for the narrow goal of momentary power? If you choose the latter, you are a collaborator.

We must condemn collaborators without reservation and expel them from our movement. We must also make it very clear that we do not condone co-opting of our ideas by right-wing anti-feminists, and make it impossible for them to speak in our names. Any kind of alliance with anti-feminists, for any reason whatsoever, hurts women. If you practise or advocate for this, you are no radical feminist.

Messages between me and the GC mods

This was initially posted on January 30, but edited a day or so later to explain my stance more fully (I added the section in parentheses in the third paragraph) and to try to be compliant of any rules I thought I may be breaking (adding “flair”, etc). The same day I posted it, I received a couple of supportive comments, as well as a comment from one of the mods:

The mod team is going to need some time to figure out how to moderate this topic.

I did not believe that my post needed to be moderated, as I hadn’t broken any rules. I sent the mods this message asking for clarification on why they felt it needed moderation:

Hello,

I posted this 15 hours ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenderCritical/comments/alepy6/if_you_empower_legitimise_and_allow_yourself_to/

[A mod] wrote this message as a comment to that post: “The mod team is going to need some time to figure out how to moderate this topic.”

Could you please tell me what there is to moderate in that post? I have not attacked anyone personally. It is my right to express my opinion that if someone does a particular action, then they are [a label which fits]. I have also not said that people who have already done so are irredeemable; I’ve offered them a choice to stand with us in solidarity against fascism. I have only sought to hold people accountable for their actions. I have posted links to allegations in TRA content only in the archived form, so that they can be debunked, or if true, known and addressed. Meanwhile, as I have shown, you have allowed direct links to right-wing websites in violation of the rules, and not taken them down or marked them with flair after I reported them. Is it because I said I support de-platforming of fascists and collaborators? Do you believe exercising the right of private entities and invidiuals to deny platforms to toxic, harmful ideologies, their adherents and allies is censorship? I do not believe that fascists (or those who legitimise them) are owed a platform. I do not support the de-platforming of innocent people in the movement, who are tarred by association when they have never made this choice. I am trying to point out that those who make the choice to ally with the right are causing damage to those of us who reject this strategy.

I shouldn’t have to wonder any of these things. That post should have been allowed to go through just as it was, on a website that claims to uphold free speech. If anyone has anything to say to me, or arguments to make against what I said, let them do it in the comments or make a new post.

Nearly everything I said in this post is just a re-statement of the rules of this sub. I joined this community because the rules and guidelines explicitly banned right-wing content, and emphasised that this community was for radical feminists, not for those who simply hate trans-identified people.

Please let me know if I have broken any rules by this post, and I will edit it to comply with them. I don’t believe that my post is uncivil, though passionate and certainly angry, as I do not attack anyone personally. My aim is to help this movement by pointing out a strategy which harms it, by ruining its credibility and harming women in both the short and long term. If we held to the principles I mention in this post, and hold each other accountable, then our credibility will be strengthened, and those who call for de-platforming us will have no leg to stand on. I believe this sincerely, and I want our fights for female spaces, etc, to succeed.

If the post is allowed to go through, will it remain several pages back where people will be unable to see it? Would I be allowed to re-post it so that it can viewed on the front page?

I have been pushed out of online and real life feminist communities since the age of 19, for pointing out racism and imperialism. Please do not push me out of this one.

Yesterday, I received this reply, informing me of their decision not to allow the post:

We have no desire to push you out. Likewise, we’ve decided not to allow your post because it calls for the wholesale deplatforming and denunciation of several gender critical activists. It is personal, at that point. Criticisms of alliances are allowed, but we don’t wish to participate in the splitting of our movement by hosting this content.

I wrote back today with this message:

I protest strongly against your characterisation of my post as “personal” and against your false claim that I have called for the “wholesale denunciation and deplatforming” of anyone. As I have already said, I am absolutely sincere in my desire to further the movement, and my post is an expression of nothing more than my deeply held beliefs.

I find your use of vague and general wording disrespectful; please do me the courtesy of specifically and explicitly naming those “several gender critical activists” you claim I am targeting for denunciation and deplatforming. No names are mentioned in the post itself.

As for the linked posts and comments, I have only mentioned Graham Linehan and Meghan Murphy by name. I have not called for denouncing and deplatforming them; I have only sought to hold them accountable for their actions. If you read between the lines, you can stretch my words to claim that I am also calling for the deplatforming of the author of the article on the Spiked Online website or the women of the Women’s Liberation Front. But you can hardly call this personal. I have never interacted with any of these people, nor heard of most of them before I have read articles on their alliances with right-wing anti-feminists. My comments under the post containing the video of the conversation between Linehan and Murphy make it obvious that I do not know much about Murphy at all, and my involvement with Linehan extends to nothing more than being a critical fan of his comedy writing.

You say that “criticism of alliances is allowed”. Do you mean that I am only free to make vague criticisms of actions but not to point out specific instances of those actions? That would mislead the readers of this sub into thinking that it’s not an urgent issue within this movement. My purpose is exactly to hold those who make such alliances accountable and answerable for their actions. This extends to everyone who does so, not just those I have named in the linked comments.

Or is it when criticism crosses the line into denunciation that you infringe on someone’s right to free speech? Who are you to draw this line for me? As a person who is targeted for genocide by fascists (a Third World woman of colour), I will not be told how strongly I may criticise fascists and their collaborators, or that I may not denounce them. My opinion on collaboration with fascists is one of absolute denunciation, not “criticism”, and I will not soften my words to reflect something I don’t believe.

Your stated moderation stance is censorship. You tell me that you “don’t wish to host [my] content.” How is that any different to the deplatforming of gender critical activists that you decry as a grave injustice? What gives you the right to refuse to provide a platform for me, when you are against the right of private entities and individuals to refuse platforms to your preferred gender critical activists? Either you support everyone’s right to refuse platforms to those whose views and actions they find repugnant, or you reject it. You cannot claim to have and exercise this right while denying it to others.

In disallowing my post, despite the fact that I have broken none of the rules or guidelines, you have made a clear choice to side with collaborators with right-wing anti-feminists rather than stand in solidarity with victims of right-wing anti-feminism. Your description of this sub is false – you are not feminists and you are definitely not radical feminists – and you hold your own rules and guidelines in contempt. Your choice to condone collaboration with right-wing anti-feminism, particularly fascism, is a clear message that women like me are unwelcome in your movement. Keep that in mind next time you accuse another woman of “splitting the movement”.

Why I made this post

I decided to make a record of this interaction to show my experiences with the moderators of the gendercritical subreddit, to warn other women—particularly women of colour, Third World women and other targets of fascists and other right-wing anti-feminists—not to trust the stated description of the subreddit as a community for radical feminists or to believe that their rules against right-wing content will be enforced.

I do not condone the use of the flaws of the gendercritical subreddit moderation team to attack gender critical or radical feminists or feminism as a whole. My experience has shown me that many who call themselves feminists or radical feminists fail to live up to the principles and ideals of feminism. When I was young, this led me to make the mistake of surrendering the movement and the label to them. Not any more. Actual radical feminists do not condone any sort of collaboration with right-wing anti-feminists. I write this to say out loud that those who do condone it do not speak in my name, no matter how prominent or famous they are, or how much exposure they get in this movement. I will keep fighting to take back the (radical) feminist movement from anyone trying to co-opt it to legitimise anti-feminism and from those who make the choice to help them do so.