Thread by @joannachiu

1/ How transphobic backlash hit after city cut funding to Vancouver Rape Relief because it excludes trans people, days after the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in favour of a trans youth to access treatment despite father's objection thestar.com/vancouver/2019… @torontostar @starvancouver

2/ Some tweets insisted that “trans women are men” and accused trans women of being sexual predators. One called a trans person an “indignant g-sh,” a slang term for “vulva” or “something useless.”

“People have really strong views about whether trans women are women," -@VanAlias

3/ We discussed whether we should reproduce some of the hateful comments but giving a sense of the vitriol was important to help readers understand the backlash against the city's support of trans inclusion. Story on funding decision by @TessaVikander: thestar.com/vancouver/2019…

We made sure to seek comment as the story progressed from Vancouver Rape Relief and a spokesperson told us it will turn down important funding from the City of Vancouver because it does not want to change its policy that excludes trans people from its services such as shelter.

We were one of the only outlets to report on the city's decision and a lot of the backlash was targeted at our reporter. That's why as @starvancouver editor I'm sharing background. A lot of the comments went beyond debating if trans women were women and included personal attacks.

Here is our coverage of the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that misgendering kids and preventing transitioning can constitute child abuse. This means that parents won't be able to prevent medical treatment. The story was read widely outside of B.C. and Canada. thestar.com/vancouver/2019…

#Vancouver's decision to cut funding to an NGO because of exclusion of trans people is quite unusual for a government. City councillors told us that they became targets of social media backlash too. “It’s been surprising the intensity of anger and threats," @christineeboyle said.

“There’s a lot of commentary from people that are disappointed with the decision, which is fine for people to have disappointment. What I find upsetting is the language, and the level of vitriol and the tone of hate that’s coming across,” @sarahkirby_yung said. #LGBT #vanpoli

Alex Verman, a cultural critic and grad student in poli sci at the University of Toronto, said that unfortunately #transphobia is still socially acceptable in many circles, in ways that homophobia and sexism used to be. Read analysis here: thestar.com/vancouver/2019… @misgenders

It's strange as an editor to be hesitant to give a reporter credit for hard work following very important legal and local government developments with potential to influence #LGBT thinking outside of our region. You can read Tessa Vikander's work here: thestar.com/search.html?q=…

If you'd like to support our conscientious journalism across Canada, please considering subscribing: thestar.com/subscribe?utm_… @starvancouver @TorontoStar @thestarcalgary @thestarhalifax @thestaredmonton Thank you!