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AfterEllen Twitter account gets called out for transphobic tweets

AfterEllen Twitter account gets called out for transphobic tweets

AfterEllen logo

The media company AfterEllen is receiving criticism after posting and retweeting numerous tweets perceived as transphobic.

AfterEllen, founded in 2002, focuses on representation of lesbian and bisexual women. It is not affiliated with Ellen DeGeneres, but the site name refers to her coming out in The Puppy Episode on ABC’s Ellen.

Over the past couple of weeks, other users have taken notice of the perceived anti-trans sentiment on the account’s timeline.

Below are several examples.

On 29 November, they tweeted out an article written by someone who was temporarily banned from Twitter for transphobic tweets. The remainer of the article calls out people who express anger at TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists).

An article AfterEllen tweeted out
A tweet linking to a transphobic article | Photo: Twitter @AfterEllen

A couple days later, the AfterEllen account tweeted a YouTube video addressing trans women and referring to ‘girl dick’.

AfterEllen transphobic tweet
Another tweet | Photo: Twitter @AfterEllen

In another tweet, the term ‘girl dick’ appears again, describing trans people and trans-inclusive activists as creating a ‘war’ on lesbians.

AfterEllen writes 'girl dick' numerous times
They write ‘girl dick’ numerous times | Photo: Twitter @AfterEllen

Then they retweeted this thread, in which a self-described ‘deviant lesbian’ descibes people who call out transphobia as ‘shit’.

A thread AfterEllen retweeted
A retweeted thread | Photo: Twitter @AfterEllen

The reactions

Numerous people called out the account for these tweets, referring to them as a TERF website.

Comedian and writer Rhea Butcher wrote AfterEllen ‘doesn’t represent me or my friends’. They also said the website is a ‘sham’.

Other people similarly slammed them.

It’s also not the first time the site has received such criticism.

In January 2017, Caitlin Logan wrote about the site’s ‘worrying proximity to anti-trans politics’.

GSN has reached out to AfterEllen for comment.

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