250 Hollywood celebrities have signed a letter sent to Big Tech companies demanding their platforms censor Americans who disagree with them on “woke” issues.
The letter specifically demands that people are silenced for raising concerns about transgender surgeries for kids.
Celebrities such as Alyssa Milano, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and others signed the letter arranged by GLAAD (formerly Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
They sent the letter to the CEOs of Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter.
Among other things, the letter demands a ban on “misgendering,” or referring to a person by their biological sex rather than their “preferred gender identity.”
It also called for the censorship of “deadnaming,” which is calling a person by their birth name rather than their preferred name.
The letter is below:
As celebrities, influencers, and prominent public figures with significant followings on social media, we the undersigned are calling on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter to fulfill the promises you’ve made to transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming and all LGBTQ users in your terms of service. There has been a massive systemic failure to prohibit hate, harassment, and malicious anti-LGBTQ disinformation on your platforms and it must be addressed.
Dangerous posts (both content and ads) created and circulated by high-follower anti-LGBTQ hate accounts targeting transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people are thriving across your platforms, directly resulting in terrifying real-life harm including bomb threats targeting children’s hospitals that offer healthcare for trans youth, and death threats targeting care providers.
Such false and hate-driven widely circulated content on your platforms is even being cited by lawmakers advancing discriminatory legislation against trans people.
Targeted misgendering and deadnaming of trans and nonbinary people is a widespread mode of hate speech across all platforms, utilized to bully and harass prominent public figures while simultaneously expressing hatred and contempt for trans and non-binary people in general.
This disinformation and hate, inadequately moderated on your platforms, plays an outsized role in the sharp increase in real-world anti-transgender targeting and violence. As documented by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in 2022, this is particularly the case when it comes to the online extremists leading proactive coordinated campaigns of hate and lies about gender affirming healthcare for trans youth.
Despite the fact that every leading medical and psychological association affirms the safety and necessity of gender affirming healthcare for trans people, including youth, inflammatory disinformation falsely asserting that this healthcare is dangerous is allowed to fester on your platforms because it drives clicks and profit. Trans youth and their families and care providers are being endangered by your negligence, causing many families to flee their homes.
Your policies and corresponding enforcement are inadequate when it comes to mitigating harmful and dangerous anti-LGBTQ content. You must urgently take action to protect trans and LGBTQ users on your platforms (including protecting us from over-enforcement and censorship).
We call for you to meet with community leaders and creators to hear about these real world harms that result from anti-trans content on your platforms — and to create and share plans for how you will address:
Content that spreads malicious lies and disinformation about medically necessary healthcare for transgender youth. As described above, such harmful content from high-follower hate-based accounts has resulted in extraordinary real-world harms. Specific mitigations on such disinformation must be developed (for instance akin to election and COVID-19 mitigations and rules).
Accounts and postings that perpetuate anti-LGBTQ extremist hate and disinformation, in violation of platform policies, and which target trans and LGBTQ people, including baseless and malicious disinformation of LGBTQ people being threats to children (e.g. the anti-LGBTQ “groomer” conspiracy theory). Such harmful and dangerous lies must be more effectively moderated and mitigated.
Dehumanizing, hateful attacks on prominent transgender public figures and influencers. Online attacks against LGBTQ organizations and individuals are on the rise. A recent report from GLAAD, UltraViolet, Kairos, and the Women’s March shows that 60% of LGBTQ people feel harmed not only from direct harassment and hate, but from witnessing harassment against other LGBTQ community members such as celebrities and public figures. Directing hate against LGBTQ public figures is a common vehicle for expressing general anti-LGBTQ bigotry. When your companies maintain policy loopholes that allow such hate, this perpetuates harm against entire communities.
Anti-transgender hate speech, including targeted misgendering, deadnaming, and hate-driven tropes. For example, Media Matters, GLAAD and others have identified multiple YouTube videos — which have accumulated millions of views — that bully, harass, and misgender trans people.
In each video, prominent anti-trans pundits use YouTube to demean, target, and misgender young people, their parents, and public figures in videos saturated with blatant anti-trans rhetoric. These videos remain active despite these violations having been reported by Media Matters, GLAAD, and other organizations to YouTube.
We know that leading national organizations, including GLAAD, HRC, Media Matters for America, PFLAG, The Trevor Project, ADL, and others, share research and guidance with your companies and escalate violative content. And yet your mitigations remain woefully inadequate. The very content you profit from is in violation of your own terms of service, which assert that you do not allow hate speech.
True allies do not profit from anti-LGBTQ hate.
We speak together with one voice to demand that your companies create and enforce stronger content and ad policies to directly confront the content that is causing online and offline harm to transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people.
The letter was signed by the following:
- Abby Wambach
- Adam Eli
- Aitch Alberto
- AJ Shively
- Alan Cumming
- Alejandra Caraballo
- Alejandra Ghersi
- Alex Clark
- Alexandra Gutierrez
- Alisa Ramirez
- Allie Leonard
- Allison Goldfrapp
- ALOK Vaid-Menon
- Alyssa May Gold
- Alyssa Milano
- Amber Ruffin
- Amber Tamblyn
- Amy Schumer
- Amy Landecker
- Andrew Polk
- Angelica Ross
- Annaleigh Ashford
- Antoni Porowski
- Aparna Brielle
- Arden Myrin
- Ariana Grande
- Arisce Wanzer
- Avan Jogia
- Barbie Ferreira
- Bebe Rexha
- Bella Ramsey
- Ben Barnes
- Benito Skinner
- Benj Pasek
- Bethany Cosentino
- Bethany Leavel
- Billy Eichner
- Billy Porter
- Bob the Drag Queen
- Bobby Berk
- Bonnie Milligan
- Brad Oscar
- Bradley Whitford
- Brandon Matthews
- Brendan Hines
- Bretman Rock
- Brian Smith
- Brigette Lundy-Paine
- Brittany Tomlinson
- Busy Philipps
- Caesar Samoya
- Camila Cabello
- Camille A Brown
- Cara Delevingne
- Chani Nicholas
- Chella Man
- Chelsea Handler
- Cheyenne Jackson
- Chris Perfetti
- Christa Miller
- Cleo Wade
- Colton Haynes
- Corey Jantzen
- Cynthia Erivo
- Cynthia McWilliams
- Cynthia Nixon
- Cyrus Veyssi
- D’Arcy Carden
- Dakota Fanning
- Dan Levy
- Darren Criss
- David Shatraw
- David Oulton
- Debra Messing
- Deepica Mutyala
- Demi Lovato
- Des McAnuff
- Devery Jacobs
- Diana Maria Riva
- Diane Guerrero
- Dylan Mulvaney
- Ed Droste
- Eddie Ndopu
- EJ Marcus
- Elegance Bratton
- Eliot Rahal
- Elle Fanning
- Elliot Page
- Emily Hampshire
- Emily V. Gordon
- Emma Hunton
- Erin Reed
- Estefania Pessoa
- FLETCHER
- Freddy Thomas
- Gabrielle Union-Wade
- Gigi Gorgeous
- Glennon Doyle
- Gottmik
- Grace Kuhlenschmidt
- Griffin Dunne
- Haley Baldwin Bieber
- Hannah Gadsby
- Harry Lambert
- Hayley Kiyoko
- Hilary Montez
- Ilana Glazer
- Indya Moore
- Isaac Mizrahi
- Jackie Bazan
- Jacob Tierney
- Jai Rodriguez
- Jameela Jamil
- James Blake
- James Scully
- Jaymes Vaughan
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Janaya Khan
- Janelle Monáe
- Janet Hubert
- Jazz Jennings
- Jenna Lyons
- Jennifer Kerr
- Jeremy Fall
- Jessica Betts
- Jillian Mercado
- Jinkx Monsoon
- Joe DiPietro
- Jonathan Van Ness
- Jonathan Bennett
- Jonny Pierce
- Jordan Stenmark
- Jordan Firstman
- Jordan Roth
- JP Saxe
- Judd Apatow
- Justin Baldoni
- Justin Tranter
- Kal Penn
- Kamar de los Reyes
- Karamo Brown
- Kate Reinders
- Katherine LaNasa
- Kathryn Grody
- Kellie Overbey
- Kelly Devine
- Kendrick Sampson
- Kevin Harrington
- Kevin Cahoon
- Ki Griffin
- Kimber Elayne Sprawl
- Kimberly Drew
- Kristin Chenoweth
- Lachlan Watson
- Laith De La Cruz
- Laura Terruso
- Lauren Jauregui
- Laverne Cox
- Lena Dunham
- Lena Waithe
- Lena Hall
- Lilly Singh
- Lily Rabe
- Liv Hewson
- Liza Koshy
- Lola Tung
- Lorin Latarro
- Lovell Adams-Gray
- Lucky Bromhead
- Mae Martin
- Mae Whitman
- Maggie Boccella
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
- Mandy Patinkin
- Marc Jacobs
- Marc Kudisch
- Marieme Diop
- Martha Plimpton
- Matt Bernstein
- Matt McGorry
- Matt Walton
- Medalion Rahimi
- Meena Harris
- Megan Crabbe
- Michael D. Cohen
- Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
- Michelle Buteau
- Midori Francis
- Miriam Silverman
- Moj Mahdara
- Mona Chalabi
- Montego Glover
- Munroe Bergdorf
- Nate Wonder
- Nats Getty
- Neila Karassik
- Nicholas Ferroni
- Nico Carney
- Nico Santos
- Nico Tortorella
- Nicole Maines
- Niecy Nash-Betts
- Nik Dodani
- Ocean Vuong
- Olly Alexander
- Our Lady J
- Padma Lakshmi
- Patrick Stewart
- Patti LuPone
- Peppermint
- Phillip Picardi
- Phoebe Robinson
- Poorna Jagannathan
- Rachel Cargle
- Rafael Silva
- Ramy Youssef
- Randy Shulman
- Raquel Willis
- Richa Moorjani
- Rob Holysz
- Robert Horn
- Rory Dahl
- Rosario Dawson
- Rupi Kaur
- Sam Smith
- Sander Jennings
- Sandy Rustin
- Sara Bareilles
- Sara Ramirez
- Sarah Ramos
- Sasha Velour
- Scott Turner Schofield
- Shawn Mendes
- Shea Couleé
- Shea Diamond
- Sherri Saum
- Sinead Burke
- Solomon Hughes
- Stephen Kunken
- Susie Park
- Oliver Reid
- Taika Waititi
- Tan France
- Tatiana Maslany
- Tess Holliday
- Tiffany Namtu
- Tommy Dorfman
- Tracee Ellis Ross
- Travis Alabanza
- Tunde Adebimpe
- Vivek Shraya
- Wanda Sykes
- Warren Carlyle
- Wayne Cilento
- Wilson Cruz
- Yves Mathieu East
- Zoë Chao
- Zooey Deschanel
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