Women who believe that biological men are not women no matter how many shades of lip color they own, nor how many body-altering surgeries they undergo, who do not believe that a woman who undergoes a double mastectomy and takes testosterone is then transformed into being a man, are routinely vilified.
So it was no surprise when the hosts of the Gender Critical Storyhour received complaints from an activist who believes that gender non-conforming biological males and females who identify as transgender are in reality members of the biological sex the present as. What was surprising that was that podcasting platform Anchor pulled the Gender Critical Storyhour after one, single, solitary complaint.
"We have to fight increasingly hard to have our voices heard," said Amy Eileen Hamm, co-host of the Gender Critical Storyhour and a Post Millennial contributor, "and this should scare all of us. We desperately need to have conversations about what role these companies play in moderating today's 'public square'."
The complaint came from a podcast called Get Soft with Doctor Snuggles, which operates under Companeros Radio, and is helmed by Alistair Wallis. The description of the podcast is "Every two weeks, Dr Snuggles is joined by a cast of friends, family, internet weirdos and special guests to guide you through the wild and wooly world of erotic thrillers and softcore films!"
In a comment Wallis sent to the Gender Critical Storyhour from the Get Soft with Dr Snuggles @getsoftpodcast account on Feb. 3, he said: "Just started listening to your podcast. Honestly very funny. Thanks for the laughs. I especially enjoyed the bit in your latest episode where you and Barbara are complaining about being silenced for your views… on your podcast. Didn't know satire could be so accurate."
Shortly thereafter, the creators of Gender Critical Storyhour received an email from Anchor on Feb. 17. It read "Hey there, It has come to our attention that your show, Gender Critical Story Hour is in violation of our Terms of Service. As a result, it has been taken down. Thank you for understanding, Anchor." The email does not have an option for appeal or a reply.
Gender Critical Storyhour announced their latest podcast, and Wallis took a victory lap, writing "Won't be dropping on Anchor." And indeed, it won't be. Wallis shared at email from Anchor to him, that said "Hi there, We apologise for the delayed action here. This show has been reviewed and removed for violating our Terms of Service. Thank you again for bringing it to our attention. Best, Anchor."
In response to the removal, Gender Critical Storyhour moved their podcast to an RSS feed, and shared the trials they'd gone through with Anchor.
"Recently our podcasting platform http://Anchor.fm got a single complaint about our show. So what did Anchor do? Anchor unpublished our podcast without warning. Beardy bro taunted us with a tweet. #AnchorHatesWomen"
They shared the appeal they sent to Anchor: "Please advise as to why our women's rights podcast was taken down without warning. Specifically, what term of service do you believe was violated?
"By censoring our podcast, Anchor is discriminating against cultural creators on the basis of sex, which is a protected characteristic under US and Canadian law, as well as international human rights law as per the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
"The Convention defines discrimination against women as 'any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil, or any other field.'
"We request that you reinstate our women's rights podcast so as not to be in violation of the CEDAW."
And shared where listeners can find the new podcast, the next episode of which will feature Graham Linehan, who has been outspoken about the harms of gender ideology. "So here's the new home for our podcast. / We're now getting the older episodes up and will drop our latest with Graham Linehan (@MessWereInShow) asap! Please bear with us. F**k #CancelCulture. #WeWillBeHeard."
Wallis' LinkedIn shows him to be the Business Support Officer at the City of Mitcham in the Greater Adelaide area in Australia, which leads to questions about what interest a podcaster from Adelaide has in a women's right's podcast from Vancouver, British Columbia.
"It's scary that tech companies are so hostile to women standing up for their sex-based rights," Hamm said. "Yes, they are private companies and are allowed to decide who gets to be on their platforms. However, we need to be alive to the fact that our culture—and the tech companies that feature so dominantly in our lives—censors women who don't toe the line."
Her co-host, Liza Vespi, who has until now gone by the pseudonym Esme Vee, said "Anchor gets one complaint from some porn-addled rando with 44 Twitter followers and a women's rights podcast gets dumped without warning. You hear about other women being censored and it's infuriating. Now I'm just in shock. We're a small podcast and even ours wasn't safe. This is proof they're coming for all of us. Speak up now."
It was in light of Anchor's removal of the podcast from their platform that Vespi decided to use her real name.
Women who express the belief that gender identity is a fiction, a fashion that has little to nothing to do with the definition of what it means to be biologically male or female, are not unused to being pilloried on social media or rejected by their so-called feminist peers. But platforms are too willing to deprive their services to women who speak out all because a single man complained.
Requests for comment to Anchor and Alistair Wallis from The Post Millennial were not returned at time of publication.
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