patrick.net

Using the pronoun he for a male or she for a female is now officially a reason for Twitter to yoink your account.

The microblogging giant has a history of suspending people for acknowledging biology, but now the practice is codified in Twitter’s increasingly labyrinthine rules under the hateful conduct section, which is starting to look more like a publisher’s style guide.

The policy states: “We prohibit targeting individuals with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.” [emphasis mine]

Misgendering is the act of not using a person’s chosen gender pronouns, of which there are dozens ready to go with any mood or phase of the moon.