13 barn owls in a trenchcoatThere's an organised far-right movement in the UK to target companies that express any kind of trans-inclusive sentiments.
They've currently turned on mobile phone provider Vodafone over a 2022 blog post suggesting that parents should listen to their trans kids at https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/digital-parenting/how-to-speak-to-your-child-about-gender-identity/
This op started two weeks ago with the messages to the Voda UK Twitter account, and has since been escalated through far-right media including GBNews and is still being campaigned against by neo-fascist anti-trans campaigner Laurance Fox as of yesterday.
The objective is to make management at the company uncomfortable enough that they remove any trans-inclusive content from the website, contributing to a project of slow erasure and denormalisation of trans people in everyday life in the UK.
What you can do
- Option 1: Still got a Twitter account (either active or mothballed)? Stand up for trans rights in response to far-right campaingers and sockpuppet accounts. This is the most effective method.Keep it positive - talk about how great it is that Voda stands up for trans kids. If you have medical stats on the benefits of supporting trans youth, use them, but be aware that your opponents will drag out the Cass report. If you're gay but not trans, highlight that you support trans rights. If you're a Voda customer, say so!
Very important: whatever account you're replying to remember to also tag @vodafoneuknews and @vodafoneuk
You can just @ those accounts and say thanks for not giving into transphobes and for supporting trans kids.
Some posts to reply to - sorry, a limited selection as Twitter is hard to search:
https://x.com/LozzaFox/status/1844390657005080715
https://x.com/jowilliams293/status/1843979004300460166
https://x.com/julianwhitley6/status/1844008913647341952
- Option 2: Write in supportContact Voda to say that you've seen the furore, have read their article (https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/digital-parenting/how-to-speak-to-your-child-about-gender-identity/) and support their trans-inclusive policy.
You can reach them at ukmediarelations@vodafone.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/vodafone-uk-news-centre/
Why should I care about Vodafone?
This isn't about Vodafone. It's about battlegrounds. Anti-trans campaigners seek to render us invisible, ensure that we are an other that it is never socially acceptable to speak of.
Why is this post friends locked?
Mostly because I don't want transphobes to be able to point at any resistance as being organised.
Have more questions?
Feel free to DM or @me! Eldritch Café silences a few instances, so I'll monitor this from an account that can see mastodon.social and kolektiva.social
Can I boost this post?
Yes! Please boost away. I would also greatly appreciate it if someone would take it to Bluesky, and please do take it to your Signal and Telegram groupchats.
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