4 ms·

PayPal and Etsy ban biologist Colin Wright

11 points by 762236 4y ago

bryanrasmussen 4y ago
so I don't know who the guy is, I tried googling who is Colin Wright but no description of whatever is considered problematic about him; I mean I can imagine because he is an 'evolutionary biologist' so maybe racism, homophobia might be bad things somebody with that career description might be called out for (but not necessarily so, there is nothing about that branch of science that makes racism and homophobia a foregone conclusion) so for all I know he hasn't said anything controversial in his profession but been accused of having sex with an intern or shooting a protected royal duck. I don't know. So when I learn his problems I will probably say hah hah, you deserve it, but so far I have been unable to learn his problems. on edit: ok did the suggested Colin Wright politics search and found out some more things about him, so he's somewhere on the right but still don't know what got him banned. Don't tell me about how the right is persecuted, because nobody is banned just for being on the right. People are banned for specific things or actions that are making waves at the moment.
- feet 4y ago
  >Don't tell me about how the right is persecuted, because nobody is banned just for being on the right. People are banned for specific things or actions that are making waves at the moment. Thank you! People aren't banned because they align with a particular ideology, its due to actions they take on behalf of their ideology and those actions are usually quite extremist
  - michaeljones2 4y ago
- rgoulter 4y ago
  Another tweet thread lists the items which were sold on Etsy, saying the items he sold promoted, supported, or glorified hatred or violence towards protected groups, which Etsy describes as "including items ... demeaning or disparaging towards people based on ... gender identity". https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1535374172683227136 https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1535374172683227136 The graphics on the shirt include male/female gender icons with text "reality's last stand", text saying "thought criminal", and a comic along the lines of "if you yell at me, I'll disagree with you more". -- Those are all fairly inoffensive conservative opinions, or do you think it's reasonable for Etsy to ban him for listing those items? If there's no indication of other reasons he's getting banned, seems fair to call it a ridiculous banning.
  - sky-kedge0749 4y ago
    The "Reality's Last Stand" Etsy stuff in your Twitter link is hate speech, since it implies being trans isn't a real thing. In terms of Etsy's "Anti-Discrimination and Hate Speech Policy" https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/anti-discrimination-and-hate-speech/123551108902 https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/anti-discrimination-and-ha... it's "demeaning language...directed at a person or group based on their one or more protected group attributes", in this case gender identity.
    - bryanrasmussen 4y ago
      Ok, thanks I went and read some more seems about that's an accurate description of the reason he's being banned. on edit: I guess from what I read there it seems he's saying being male and female are biological categories, but he does not specify what kind of category transexuality would fall under, that is to say from looking at just that page not sure if he has said transexuality does not exist, only that it must be something different than the male and female categories. Which from what he writes seems that he wants these terms to mean 'born with male organs' and 'born with female organs' respectively.
      - sky-kedge0749 4y ago
        I don't know about this particular guy's opinions but usually what transphobes think is that there's no such thing as being transgender, trans men are actually women, trans women are actually men and in both cases they're either confused, misled, or, regarding trans women, predators planning to attack other women or outcompete them in sports or something like that.
        shamir_pecan 4y ago
        Are all atheists religiophobic? Or do they just disagree with those who hold religious beliefs? It's the same principle for most gender critical people. In this case, Wright is both a biologist and an atheist, so he's rather predisposed to being sceptical of ideologies that aren't based in material reality, given his background.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- gcrf 4y ago
  He's not right-wing, he's left-wing to centre-left - but differs from the mainstream left in that he's critical of their identity politics.
gcrf 4y ago
Colin has been an admirable ally to the women's rights movement in recent years. For example, he has been giving evidence about biological sex differences in strength to the California courts this week, to help protect incarcerated women from being raped. It's likely this is retaliation for his efforts in educating people on the importance of biological sex and sex-based rights, in an era where these are increasingly being demolished. I find it shocking that these tech giants have apparently collaborated to cut off his income streams. I do wonder what is happening behind the scenes to coordinate this attack on him.

11 points by 762236 4y ago

so I don't know who the guy is, I tried googling who is Colin Wright but no description of whatever is considered problematic about him; I mean I can imagine because he is an 'evolutionary biologist' so maybe racism, homophobia might be bad things somebody with that career description might be called out for (but not necessarily so, there is nothing about that branch of science that makes racism and homophobia a foregone conclusion) so for all I know he hasn't said anything controversial in his profession but been accused of having sex with an intern or shooting a protected royal duck. I don't know. So when I learn his problems I will probably say hah hah, you deserve it, but so far I have been unable to learn his problems. on edit: ok did the suggested Colin Wright politics search and found out some more things about him, so he's somewhere on the right but still don't know what got him banned. Don't tell me about how the right is persecuted, because nobody is banned just for being on the right. People are banned for specific things or actions that are making waves at the moment.

feet 4y ago
>Don't tell me about how the right is persecuted, because nobody is banned just for being on the right. People are banned for specific things or actions that are making waves at the moment. Thank you! People aren't banned because they align with a particular ideology, its due to actions they take on behalf of their ideology and those actions are usually quite extremist
- michaeljones2 4y ago
rgoulter 4y ago
Another tweet thread lists the items which were sold on Etsy, saying the items he sold promoted, supported, or glorified hatred or violence towards protected groups, which Etsy describes as "including items ... demeaning or disparaging towards people based on ... gender identity". https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1535374172683227136 https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1535374172683227136 The graphics on the shirt include male/female gender icons with text "reality's last stand", text saying "thought criminal", and a comic along the lines of "if you yell at me, I'll disagree with you more". -- Those are all fairly inoffensive conservative opinions, or do you think it's reasonable for Etsy to ban him for listing those items? If there's no indication of other reasons he's getting banned, seems fair to call it a ridiculous banning.
- sky-kedge0749 4y ago
  The "Reality's Last Stand" Etsy stuff in your Twitter link is hate speech, since it implies being trans isn't a real thing. In terms of Etsy's "Anti-Discrimination and Hate Speech Policy" https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/anti-discrimination-and-hate-speech/123551108902 https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/anti-discrimination-and-ha... it's "demeaning language...directed at a person or group based on their one or more protected group attributes", in this case gender identity.
  - bryanrasmussen 4y ago
    Ok, thanks I went and read some more seems about that's an accurate description of the reason he's being banned. on edit: I guess from what I read there it seems he's saying being male and female are biological categories, but he does not specify what kind of category transexuality would fall under, that is to say from looking at just that page not sure if he has said transexuality does not exist, only that it must be something different than the male and female categories. Which from what he writes seems that he wants these terms to mean 'born with male organs' and 'born with female organs' respectively.
    - sky-kedge0749 4y ago
      I don't know about this particular guy's opinions but usually what transphobes think is that there's no such thing as being transgender, trans men are actually women, trans women are actually men and in both cases they're either confused, misled, or, regarding trans women, predators planning to attack other women or outcompete them in sports or something like that.
      - shamir_pecan 4y ago
        Are all atheists religiophobic? Or do they just disagree with those who hold religious beliefs? It's the same principle for most gender critical people. In this case, Wright is both a biologist and an atheist, so he's rather predisposed to being sceptical of ideologies that aren't based in material reality, given his background.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
gcrf 4y ago
He's not right-wing, he's left-wing to centre-left - but differs from the mainstream left in that he's critical of their identity politics.

gcrf 4y ago

Colin has been an admirable ally to the women's rights movement in recent years. For example, he has been giving evidence about biological sex differences in strength to the California courts this week, to help protect incarcerated women from being raped. It's likely this is retaliation for his efforts in educating people on the importance of biological sex and sex-based rights, in an era where these are increasingly being demolished. I find it shocking that these tech giants have apparently collaborated to cut off his income streams. I do wonder what is happening behind the scenes to coordinate this attack on him.