Posted by A Twitter thread by @radicalhag
This is why freedom of speech matters. I have no doubt whatsoever that women have the moral high ground in the trans debate; there’s *no* ethical basis for removing women’s rights and protections in favour of males. It’s extreme misogyny – male supremacy on crack.
This is why freedom of speech matters. I have no doubt whatsoever that women have the moral high ground in the trans debate; there’s *no* ethical basis for removing women’s rights and protections in favour of males. It’s extreme misogyny – male supremacy on crack.
But woke transactivists had control of the *discourse* until fairly recently, and still attempt to censor women who point out the misogyny and homophobia of their position. (Which just goes to show that their argument has no substance).
Freedom of speech prevents powerful establishment in-groups like transactivists from stopping speech they don’t want from reaching the public ear. It means you let ideas stand or fall on their merits, rather than letting lobbies dictate your thinking.
It shouldn’t be confused with the need to *amplify* the voices of the oppressed, which is real. Speech which only allows the powerful to be heard isn’t free either; that’s a genuine criticism. (I’ve never seen a more explicit expression of patriarchal power than transactivism.)
But no group should get to pick and choose who or what gets heard, which is what the woke want. What listening to racists and anti-Semites will tell us is that society does in fact need some norms. We need to acknowledge oppression and protect the oppressed.
Likewise listening to sexists. We’re not trying to shut down transactivists’ speech. We’re not scared of it because we can shoot their argument down on its content (or rather its lack of content). What are *they* so scared of, I wonder?