(USNewsMag.com) – On June 21, Elon Musk announced he is adding the words “cis” and “cisgender” to a list of words that are considered slurs on Twitter.
The announcement was made after Thoughtful Therapists co-founder James Esses June 20 tweet in which he stated his post stating he reject “the word cis” was receiving backlash from LGBTQ+ activists, with some responses calling him “cissy.”
In a tweet about his decision, Musk stated that accounts will be temporarily suspended if the account engages in “repeated, targeted harassment” of any other account.
The announcement was celebrated by some users on Twitter, while others said it was extreme to add the words as slurs.
One tweet included the origin of the word, which originated in 1991 by German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch, who in talking about transsexuals, said there must logically be cissexuals, and he went on to introduce the words “cissexualism, cissexuals, cisgender….”
By definition, cisgender refers to someone whose “gender identity” corresponds with their gender identified when they were born. Cis is a shorter version of the word. Many people object to the notion of “gender identity” being a real phenomenon at all.
On social media, LGBTQ+ activists use both words in a derogatory manner toward others.
Terms that Twitter considers slurs are not listed specifically in its policy on hateful conduct, but the policy does condemn any form of speech that is intended to “degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes.”
This isn’t the first time Musk has weighed in on the Twitter policy. In April, Musk also announced he was getting rid of Twitter policy that declared misgendering and “deadnaming” a transgender person was harassment. So-called “deadnaming” refers t a person who calls a “transgender” person by that person’s original, pre-transition name.
In June, Musk faced backlash after the Daily Wire documentary “What is A Woman?,” which asks regarding the gender ideology movement, was posted on Twitter via a deal between Twitter and the Daily Wire.
In October 2022, Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion and has been targeted ever since for his views on free speech and lack of censorship on Twitter.
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