Thread by @terfalicious

I recently was asked to participate in an “interview” by a teenage TRA, Amy, who helps run an Instagram page with ~20k followers. She was starting a series on her page where she interviewed people w controversial beliefs that their followers wanted to learn the “truth” about. 1/

Their followers voted for a “TERF” to be the first person interviewed and submitted questions for me to answer. I saw this as a way to dispel false notions about radical feminism, so I accepted, and I also recruited the help of @beyvibezz and @2003rapvideo. 2/

We each spent a considerable amount of time painstakingly writing out our answers to these questions in a way that we felt this mostly-teenage TRA audience would be receptive to. Amy was very respectful to us and labored over creating the graphic design for our interviews. 3/

Note: If you want to read the interview now, it will be at the end of the thread. For those of you who have read my carrd, it’s pretty much the same thing but I answered a few more questions that they asked. 4/

My interview was the first and only to be posted. After less than an hour of being on their page, the backlash was so severe that the other admins of the page made the decision to delete the post and an another admin immediately posted a brief apology. 5/

When Amy finished school, she posted a more comprehensive apology, pictured here. She and the other admins (some of whom are trans men, mind you) were being bombarded with private messages scolding them for “platforming a TERF” and for “triggering people’s dysphoria.” 6/

I foolishly only took one screenshot of the comments on the original post before it was deleted, which is this one.

“I knew this would make me dysphoric...she makes good points but god it’s so unfair I wasn’t born a cis guy, why am I always going to have to be a ‘female’.” 7/

Their acknowledgement of my “good points,” suggests to me that this trans person did not detect any transphobia/ arguments based in irrational hatred of trans people in what I wrote. Instead, their only gripe with it was how it made them feel. 8/

By publicly commenting on how it triggered their dysphoria & made them feel bad, it signaled to the other TRAs that my interview was bad, harmful, and had to be taken down immediately, which, being duitiful TRAs, they did. 9/

Notice how they specifically mentioned what I said abt “every cell in [a trans man’s] body being female,” which is a scientific fact, as making them “feel sick” & cry.

I didn’t say “society will never consider trans men to be men,” I said they‘re still biologically female. 10/

I can’t help but see this as being dangerously unhealthy. This person’s identity rests on a house of cards that requires constant validation to remain stable and collapses with one mention of biology.

Truly, how will this person function outside of their “safe space?” 11/

I want to note that I feel terrible that I triggered a teenager’s dysphoria. That was not my intention—I simply answered the questions that were asked of me.

A few commenters said there should’ve been a trigger warning, despite the fact that these were the opening slides. 12/

There were plenty of comments on the apology post, most thanking the admins for swiftly removing my interview. Here are some examples:

Btw, my social media was not linked so the first commenter doesn’t know who I follow—they’re just making it up.

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Some of the commenters were even turning on Amy for conducting the interview and accusing her of being a terf.

Keep in mind—these kids VOTED to hear from a terf AND they submitted the questions we answered. Yet somehow, Amy is a terf for doing exactly what they wanted?! 14/

This just shows how, under gender ideology, everyone is constantly on thin ice & under suspicion. It didn’t matter that Amy hosted the page w trans ppl, it didn’t matter that she executed the audience’s wishes—the feelings of trans people were hurt, & so she must be a terf. 15/

Here’s another comment. I want to spend a little time breaking this down.

They start by saying that Amy’s apology “doesn’t seem genuine” bc one of the trans admins (not even Amy!) reminded them that they specifically asked for the interview and submitted the questions. 16/

They say that even though they personally wanted to know terf “talking points,” it shouldn’t have been “presented & defended in the manner it was.”

To suggest that my thoughts were defended by Amy is an egregious lie considering she provided zero commentary on our interviews.17/

Moreover, presented how? As an interview? As a series of questions & answers, which was how it was originally advertised to her audience and which the majority of them enthusiastically voted for and no one complained about? 18/

Not only that, but this person complains that there was “no trigger warning for any of it”...

As a reminder, 2/3 of the posts had “TERF” in big letters, front & center, & the other clearly stated it was about radical feminism. If that’s not a trigger warning, idk what it is. 19/

They go on to say that my interview made them “extremely dysphoric” & that had it just been an explanation of my beliefs & how I got them, it would’ve been fine. They then conflate gender & sex by falsely claiming I said that trans ppl would never be the gender they ID as. 20/

These kids take zero responsibility for their own actions. They ASKED for this, submitted the questions, willingly chose to read something they knew would upset them, found no transphobia, and still demanded that it be removed & attacked Amy bc it made them “feel bad.” 21/

And of course, it works. If a trans person’s feelings are hurt, the world stops turning. Very few people call them on their bullshit, and the ones that do are silenced or fed some convoluted lie about why terfs absolutely can’t be heard. Just look at these examples: 22/

I suspect that these kids expected my interview to be a hot mess that they could all collectively laugh at and dismiss as a bunch of nonsense. Instead, they realized that the monstrous TERF actually “made good points” that were grounded in science and reality. 23/

While this interview failed, this event has further solidified my opinion that gender ideology is a disease that’s infecting young people and children & preventing them from developing critical thinking skills, among other things. 24/

I also want to say something—I ask that you all please speak respectfully about Amy. We can all talk about what we would’ve done if we were her, but I personally feel she made the right choice and I would’ve apologized without hesitation too if I were in her shoes. 25/

Her personal Instagram account was connected to the larger Instagram page and multiple people contacted her directly, demanding an apology and accusing her of being a TERF. Her account is connected to her family and school. 26/

For her, the threat of being doxed was a realistic and likely possibility if she did not comply. She is just a teenage girl and was being bombarded with messages telling her she was defending transphobia and hatred towards trans people. 27/

I think many GC people, in particular older GC ppl, underestimate how truly devastating being doxed and publicly shamed for being a “bigot” is on your mental health, personal life, and future educational/career aspirations. 28/

Maybe Amy felt genuinely bad and wanted to apologize—I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. My point is simply that I don’t think she had a real choice, and I’d like for you all to keep that in mind. She’s a good person caught up in a delusional movement. 29/

I could go on, but this thread is already far too long. Here is my interview, as promised:
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Last part! 36/