Source: Women are Human
US — Missouri. A US Senate candidate for Missouri was suspended from Twitter on February 28 for remarking that women’s sports are not for men pretending to be women, and using the former legal name of an athlete who identifies as transgender.
Vicky Hartzler, a member of the Republican party who was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2010 and has represented Missouri’s 4th congressional district since 2011, was promptly slapped with a suspension for violating the social media platform’s hateful conduct policy, which “bars harassing or promoting violence against any group or individuals based on identity, including gender and sexual orientation.”
The tweet that prompted her suspension stated: “Women’s sports are for women, not men pretending to be women.” Accompanying the text was a video of the Senate hopeful’s campaign ad, which addressed the trending topic of male athletes participating in women’s sports.
The ad showed a photograph of a male athlete with short hair and a blue t-shirt. “Meet William Thomas, ranked number 462 in men’s swimming,” Representative Hartzler stated in the ad.
Introducing another image of the same athlete with long hair, stud earrings and a burgundy, collared shirt with a white Nike logo, which appeared alongside the first image, the congresswoman said, “Meet Leah Thomas, ranked number one in women’s swimming.
“Only one problem: it’s the same person,” the ad continued.
“Some people are afraid to talk about it. Not me. I’m Vicki Hartzler. I ran and coached girls’ track, and I won’t look away while woke liberals destroy women’s sports.
“Women’s sports are for women – not men pretending to be women.”
Twitter said Representative Hartzler would have to delete the tweet and wait 12 hours in read-only mode before her account could be fully reinstated.
Calling the suspension “shameful, utterly ridiculous, and a horrible abuse of censorship by big tech giants to stifle free speech,” the Senate candidate’s campaign said she would not delete the tweet.
As of this time, the congresswoman’s Twitter account appears to have been fully restored.
