Elon Musk says 'cis' and 'cisgender' are now considered as slurs on Twitter
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, LGBTQ, Technology
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: Bradley Cooper / David Burton / Alamy
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, LGBTQ, Technology
Elon Musk has announced that the words 'cis' and 'cisgender' are now 'considered slurs' on Twitter.
Pronounced 'sis-gender', the term is one that's become more common over the years amid more open discussions about gender and the differences between what gender people are assigned at birth, and how they personally identify.
Cisgender, or cis for short, relates to people who identify as the same gender they were assigned at birth.
So if the doctor called out 'it's a boy!' when you were born, and you still identify as a man today, then you're cisgender.
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The term in itself is simply a way to distinguish cisgender people from transgender or non-binary people, but Twitter owner Musk made the declaration that it was banned today (21 June), after claims made about the use of the words by another user.
James Esses, a writer and commentator whose bio says he 'focuses on the impact of ideology on society and the safeguarding of children', said he was hit with backlash after announcing that he didn't want to be called cisgender.
He wrote: "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”. Just imagine if the roles were reversed."
Musk responded the following day to imply that the responses Esses had received constituted 'repeated targeted harassment'.
He wrote: "Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions."
As well as this, Musk added: "The words “cis” or “cisgender” are considered slurs on this platform."
Although Twitter's guidelines on hateful conduct state 'you may not directly attack other people on the basis of [...] sexual orientation, gender, gender identity', among other things, the terms 'cis' and 'cisgender' are not mentioned.
Musk has been met with mixed responses after the announcement, with one person writing: "Bit confused on this one. The Oxford English dictionary lists it as not a slur. Are we getting a dictionary according to Elon/Twitter published somewhere?"
It's unclear what punishment, if any, Twitter users who use the terms may face, or whether the terms will be added as slurs in the official guidelines.
However, the decision to 'ban' the words comes after Musk removed a ban on deadnaming which had previously been implemented by Twitter, meaning users could target transgender people by referring to them by the names they used before transitioning.
UNILAD has contacted Twitter for a comment.