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If you are cis ("not transgender") I need to explain this to you. Bluesky today posted this vague thread, announcing-without-spelling-out that they're allowing a writer, net troll and anti-trans activist named Jesse Singal to stay on the platform, despite every trans user saying it makes us unsafe.

This is the heart of the thread: They're looking at the one specific rules violation Singal is being reported for *currently*. And they're saying, this doesn't count as a rules violation, because he was careful enough to stay within the strict lines of the rule as written.

This misunderstands the issue, and is a fundamental error in moderation philosophy. The problem isn't any specific rule violation—Singal is skilled in "I'm-not-touching-you" harassment and will follow rules if you write them. The problem is the overall effect on the site Singal's presence will have.

You have to understand the context. The context is that there is an organized, anonymous group, centered around a site named "Kiwifarms", that has as a goal driving trans people to suicide. Singal is *currently* describing himself as working with this group as part of his operations on the site.

Singal himself, as a writer, has been waging an escalating war on trans existence, launching from a 2018 Atlantic cover story that outed and misgendered its cover subject. He specializes in swaying "liberals" and centrists, targeting them with the wedge strategy of "well I support trans people BUT—"

Despite the oh-so-reasonable face he presents in his writing, if you run into him online he's a terror. It's easy to find stories of online critics of his who found their workplaces contacted demanding retribution. Singal openly states he's on Bluesky to "colonize" it. With, I guess, Kiwifarms users

TLDR: Bluesky is, right now, a relatively safe and usable place for trans people. Jesse Singal is on this site with the goal of changing that, as I interpret his own words. The Bluesky staff, by saying they won't take action unless he breaks a specific rule, are saying they're just fine with that.

There's a *lot* more I could say but this is already a long thread. So I'll just end with, here's a petition: www.change.org/p/bluesky-mu... If you're cis and can tank Having Your Name On A List, it would be great if this petition just kept growing even as Bluesky tries to make all this go away.