Please be advised, this blog includes some examples of abusive and graphic content that some people may find distressing.

A very dear friend of mine has asked me to write a bit about my time on Twitter and what happened to me on there. I think it’s important that we talk about how Twitter influences political discourse, especially when, as a platform that allows marginalised people to reach those we need to talk to, it can deprive us of our voices if we upset the political activism they wish to promote. So, here goes…

I should point out I had a tiny personal account where I had been following the gender debate before I ever got involved. I’d noticed how often discussions were ended when trans activists would say other women were offending women without wombs too. As a woman born without a womb, I was only ever offended by being used in this way, not by other women talking about their wombs, and I wanted to tell them they could do so without being scared of hurting people like me. I began MRKHvoice because I wanted to be able to speak anonymously as I was going to be discussing intimate details of my medical condition.

I think the best way to introduce the account is with the first thread I ever wrote. I remember being really nervous posting it. I’d spent a couple of days gaining a handful of followers and hoped that some may read and share it. I didn’t expect much more than that. Anyway, here it is…. (I’ve edited a couple of mistakes out for clarity)

“I started this account to talk about the fabled creature “the woman born without a womb” and her involvement in the gender identity debate.

I find it extraordinary that TRAs continually trot her out as proof that men can be women when her existence and identity actually flies in the face of gender identity ideology.

There is no one who has contemplated their sex identity like these women. They are observed as female at birth and are raised as girls, they present no differently externally. In fact, it’s not until puberty hits that the condition becomes evident.

During and after the process of diagnosis, it is not uncommon for women to begin to doubt their sex. I remember searching desperately for reassurance in myself that I was indeed female. That there hadn’t been some cock up in the delivery room.

The fact that many of these women are given hormonal and chromosomal testing to reassure them that they are indeed female, is a testament to how upsetting the diagnosis is and how far away from gender ideology it sits.

For women like me, and the other 1 in 5000 with this condition, we know the feeling of “woman” does not exist, but we know our biological reality, and that is how we define ourselves.

To use our emotionally painful and often physically limiting condition (MRKH comes with a host of other issues, ranging from renal, cardiac, skeletal to hearing) to further a cause that undermines our very existence is not only disingenuous, it’s detrimental our mental health.

If being a woman is a “feeling”, then people like me will have to redefine ourselves on top of the painful work we have to do to mourn and accept our broken bodies.”

I was amazed at how this was received. People did read what I said and shared it. I got lovely messages of support from many women. Other people with DSDs reached out to me to say they felt the same, so I kept writing.

The trans activists were another story. Initially, some tried to befriend me. Some suggested I should try being a man instead, some insisted I did have a gender identity and just didn’t know it. Some said I was making it up, faking my condition for attention and to disguise my “transphobia”. Many called me bigot, fascist, Nazi, TERF. This didn’t put me off.

I carried on writing about how I felt and about my condition and why it was different to being trans. I had made no choices about the body I was stuck in, there are no ‘gender affirming’ treatments that could help with the parts of my body I was dysphoric about. I also asked a lot of questions and got into the occasional argument with trans activists when I wouldn’t view my own condition and experiences through their lens.

My account was obviously reported a lot. I was never abusive, so Twitter could never find fault, but eventually they shadowbanned me. A practice Twitter denied doing at the time (It’s now referred to as Quality Filter Discrimination or QFD). This wasn’t going to put me off either, so I started a new account (mrkhtake2). I didn’t shutdown my first one. What I had written on there was important to me.

My second account also drew the attention of the trans activists. I was threatened with doxing, harassed, piled on, reported. It got even more attention when Goldsmiths Student Union LGBT+ account said I needed sending to the Gulags for re-education, and then wrote a bizarre thread about how the Gulags were a good thing, after people had pointed out that saying they would put intersex people in internment camps was not a good look.

Again, this didn’t deter me. By now more people with DSDs and their families were reaching out to me and I realised one of the things missing from the debate was accurate information about what intersex/DSDs are/are not. I also realised how little I knew, so I started to research. As I researched, I shared what I had learned. Many of the posts on this blog are copies of the threads I wrote on Twitter.

My account continued to grow, as did the hostility from trans activists.

Another incident that stands out to me was when I dared to say that no DSD caused women to produce sperm. A trans activist was so enraged that this is what my mentions looked like within half an hour, as they went through my account posting abuse on every single tweet they could find.

I realise that’s impossible to read, so here are some highlights….

Still, I persisted. People really were listening to me and were interested in what I said. I gained MPs, journalists, scientists, medics, as followers, along with other people from all walks of life. The more attention my account received the harder the trans activists pushed back. One of them started up a fake account and used that to target me specifically. I’m going to share some of the tweets from that account, but I warn you they are graphic and upsetting.

I reported this account, as did many other people. Twitter said they had not violated their terms of service and invited me to “see the context”. The context being that I was doing nothing to encourage or interact with this account, I even blocked it, but they continued to tag me into posts like this. Many of the well-known Twitter trans activists interacted with the account. Some egged them on, but some did take offence at what was being shared and reported the account for transphobia. It was this that eventually got it shut down.

After this, the trans activists eased off with the abuse but went back to the mass reporting. Eventually, Twitter found a tweet they were not happy with. In the tweet, I had said shouting “transphobia” at people discussing cases like Karen White was unhelpful. No one was saying “all trans people are sexual predators”, but that some people who were may take advantage of self ID policies. It seemed Twitter was choosing to view my tweet as saying the opposite so they slapped a 12-hour suspension on me. I put in an appeal. Twitter never even acknowledged receipt of it. I decided the best thing to do was to return to my original account and wait.

It was nice being back in my old account. The trans activists had forgotten about it and I had one tenth of the followers, so could breathe a bit. People soon found me there though and my follower count and likes and retweets started climbing up again. With that the mass reporting began again too. At one point, Twitter did permanently ban me. It was for this tweet:

They had deleted both of my MRKH accounts. I appealed this decision, as I didn’t feel asking a question should be a violation of anyone’s rules. Twitter agreed and reinstated my account. As the appeal system only deals with one account at a time, and the second account had never been officially banned, I left it there. I’d never used two in tandem anyway.

Which brings us almost up to date. Two weeks ago, I was in a discussion about the use of the word “cis” (you can see my thoughts on this here) when I suddenly realised I was unable to reply anymore. Nothing on the app was showing as wrong, other than this. I messaged a friend to ask if they could check my account. They confirmed I had been suspended. I had received no email regarding which rule I had violated. Nothing.

I went through the help and support centre and emailed twitter to ask what I had done wrong. They said I had been “managing multiple accounts for abuse purposes”. I appealed, pointing out that my account may be contentious, but it was not abusive and that I did not have multiple active accounts. What I found most bizarre was that my original, personal account, which used the same phone number as my MRKH accounts was not included in this permanent ban. Twitter were obviously accusing me of accounts I didn’t have and punishing me for those but had not investigated which accounts were in my name. I explained this in my appeal.

I also pointed out that if they meant mrkhtake2, this account had never been officially banned and should have been reinstated when Twitter admitted their mistake before. I got an automated pingback, within seconds, of the same email, claiming I was “managing multiple accounts for abuse purposes”. No matter what method I tried, the same thing happened. Within seconds, I would receive that email. It was evident that no human was dealing with my complaint. I had either been caught by an algorithm or my account had been blacklisted by twitter in some way to make the appeal system inaccessible to me.

I’ve since put in a complaint through the Better Business Bureau, in the hope that maybe I can speak to a human being. I’m annoyed that I’ve been accused of things I hadn’t done and concerned that if Twitter haven’t deleted the one other account belonging to me, then they must have deleted other people’s accounts and accused them of being me. I know on the day of my ban there was a cull of gender critical accounts. I wonder how many of them were supposedly me.

I’m not normally one for conspiracy theories, but it seems very coincidental in its timing that a prominent trans activist in Canada, known for getting people banned from social media, and having friends in high places at Twitter, is currently involved in a tribunal where they are using intersex as a defence and may have a vested interest in removing people who may disagree from the discourse. I feel I should also point out, however, that I know Yaniv isn’t the only trans activist with influence at twitter. This account is run by the trans activist who threatened to dox me.

Twitter has a general problem with the abuse of women on its platform. You don’t gain the moniker “The Harvey Weinstein of social media” for nothing. It has acknowledged that words like “TERF” are a slur, but it continues to allow the word and violent language surrounding it to proliferate on its platform. The day before my first ban, I had been told I was a “TERF who deserved the guillotine”. This tweet was also not found to be in violation of Twitter’s rules. I also know a few trans people who are permanently banned for not viewing themselves through the lens of gender ideology and for recognising the issues created by aggressive trans activism. It certainly offers intersex people no protection. We are expected to receive abhorrent abuse but pretend there is a context that makes this okay and are treated like the enemy for talking about our own reality.

I don’t necessarily expect anything to come from this, but it is important we talk about it. Twitter is a safe harbour for bullies and abusers. They rely on the silence of those bullied and abused to allow this to continue. They are not only complicit by their inaction on abuse from accounts run by trans activists, but they actively take part with their manipulation of the reporting and appeals process.

I had a header photo on my twitter account, it said “Speak the truth even if your voice shakes”. It was an image that inspired me to begin my account in the first place. I intended to when I began, and I will continue to with or without Twitter as a platform. I will not be silenced by bullies. This is my voice and my story.

Join the conversation

33 Comments

  1. Thanks for this Claire. Sorry this injustice is happening to you. You’re right, since we lost you, the pressure continues with some accounts receiving 10 or more reports in a day, thus far found to be unsubstantiated but the harassment is awful. As you say it coincides with the Yaniv case, and since it’s mainly UK feminists speaking up about this, that accounts for the suspensions and harassment here.
    I do hope you are reinstated; your important voice is missed, but me, Andrew others will continue to follow you here.
    In solidarity,
    Julia

    1. Thank you, Julia. I really appreciate your support. The situation is so frustrating. I miss you all on there but I’m glad that I’m able to keep in contact with people through the blog, etc. I hope Twitter sorts its act out. I know how stressful it can be when you know you’re being mass reported. I’m sending love and solidarity. 💜

  2. Good to read your blog, like many upset and angry re Twitter issues. Hope you are able to get back to your account but glad you have other avenues of communication. Your voice is very important. X

  3. Claire I have missed you on Twitter and i have learned so much from you there. (And from the odd webcast). (Though I’m firmly hula-hoops in the snack wars). You are a brave, knowledgeable and humane voice.and, call me Pollyanna but we will get you back and soon.

  4. Thank you for writing this account. I’d followed you and learned a huge amount from you, and was disgusted (but sadly not surprised) when you got banned. I can only hope we’ll have you back before too long.

  5. Hi, right around the time you were banned a TRA account accused me of being a sockpuppet but would not tell me who they thought I really was. I I suspect that they may have been involved in the attack on you. I can dig up the info on that account if it would be useful to you. Lmk.

  6. Glad to have found you here. I’m not on Twitter. (When they started, back in the Paleodigital, I was put off by the total corporate control and figured I’d wait for a platform where I had some rights. I know. Very funny.) But I’ve read your public feed, Your very informative threads are outstanding, factual, and hugely needed.

    And that’s a professional biologist saying that 😀 .

    There’s a Supreme Court-level free speech issue here when pornographic hate speech is fine but women stating facts are silenced. The argument that a private company can do whatever it wants is BS. Civil rights can’t be ignored just because you’re not standing in a Post Office or the Department of Motor Vehicles. Somehow, that loss of rights happens only to women.

    1. Thank you. It’s always nice to get the professional scientist seal of approval!

      I agree that this is a free speech issue, although I do wonder if Twitter will eventually be the death of itself, in its quest to create an echo chamber of “acceptable opinion”.

  7. Thanks for continuing to speak out. The hypocrisy of Twitter and your detractors is mind-boggling. It’s hateful for you to talk about your own medical condition, but it’s not hateful for those who are offended by that to call you a c-nt. I feel like I’m living in the Woke Twilight Zone.

  8. I’m really sorry to hear this has happened to you. These TRAs really think they can just bully everyone, don’t they?

    One thing you can do to have an ongoing online presence similar to Twitter is to set up your own Pleroma instance. It’s this open-source, decentralized version of Twitter that other “instances” can connect to and follow you on. You can get a virtual server at Vultr or DigitalOcean and there’s a guide to setup at https://docs.pleroma.social/readme.html

      1. You were nice to me when I was an idiot and educated me with some patience, i appreciated at the time and still. I hope its overturned.

  9. Hi, I’m a former Biomedical scientist and Developmental Biologist and I know about and understand things like mullerian and wolfian ducts and stuff.

    I saw some of your tweets retweeted around and viewed a lot of the threads and you speak the biological truth. That people with obvious psychological problems can gang together and get people speaking biological truth banned from platforms is abhorrent. It should not be happening and I suspect and hope that a reckoning and reassessment of all this will come.

    It is seemingly happening here in Scotland, Scotgov was all set to pass a gender recognition bill with self declaration and councils were unisexing changing rooms and toilets. But none of it was legal because the Scottish Human Rights Act requires anything affecting women’s rights and protections MUST got out for consultation and assessment of its affects on women, girls, safeguarding etc. NONE of this was done.

    A group of civil society people, many of them lawyers, got together and challenged the councils and Scotgov and threatened legal proceedings unless they did it properly, whereon those involved would redouble their efforts in the evidence department (Karen White, cough). Scotland does this sort of thing quite well when it’s needed. It’s why Scottish Water is still in public hands for eg and Calmac who run the ferries as well.

    So I’m cautiously hopeful, though Nicola Sturgeon’s deliberately deaf ear needs to change. It might not affect her but it might affect her nieces. I have three sisters, two grown daughters and 5 nieces and I’m on the warpath on their behalf. NOBODY is going to deny biological reality without challenge in my hearing.

    1. Thank you. I’ve followed the Scottish situation quite a bit. Joan McAlpine has been absolutely brilliant there. I wish there were more MPs like her.

      1. Joan McAlpine has been brilliant, she’s an MSP though, not an MP. The SNP keep quite a lot of their talent in Scotland. Though more MPs at Westminster of her caliber might help but I fear the party machines at Westminster would make short of them. The system is a large part of the problem and just trying to elect better people doesn’t work with system reform.

        Despair at the prospect of that system reform is a large part of why so many here want Independence. As part of trying to avoid capture by it the SNP do not nominate or accept peerages. They will expel members who accept one.

        1. I did not know that about the peerages. I did a law degree in England, so covered a bit of Scottish law for Constitutional and Administrative law. I can see why so many people would be attracted to independence from Westminster. If they keep the push back against self ID, I’d be tempted to move there myself.

  10. A case in point: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17800511.snp-women-39-s-convener-criticised-insisting-canadian-trans-woman-jessica-yaniv-39-female-predator-39/?ref=twtrec

    In this case two academics fighting the good fight.

    I’ve recently read a paper by some academics from my alma mater in New Zealand analysing the issue of male bodied persons competing in female sport categories and finding it was not justified by the evidence. In the present environment that is a brave stance to take. It makes me proud of my old department.

    1. That paper from the Edinburgh University journal sounds brilliant. It’s exactly what should have been thought about in the first place. It’s such a relief to hear more academics speaking out. I know a few who have been for a while and the abuse they have received is awful. I hope it produces the change it needs to.

  11. I use to be on twitter myself but when I started speaking up about Intersex issues, talking about my Intersex/DSD experience with Kallmann’s syndrome and defending Intersex/DSD people. I got hounded, harassed and attacked by the Transwhactivist and their SJW enablers. I got attacked on twitter for my Intersex/DSD condition and the transwhactivist tried to say I wasn’t Intersex/DSD enough. These insane transwhactivist tried to claim I wasn’t intersex/DSD enough and they tried to deny Kallmann’s syndrome being an Intersex/DSD, when even the newer science says otherwise. It’s why I am no longer on twitter because it’s become too damn toxic and Instead I am on Gab, Mewe, Minds, Bitchute and Parler because those places have allowed me to speak my mind and speak freely without fear of being attacked or hounded by the Transwhactivist.

    1. It’s ridiculous. Trans activists are happy to trot out intersex/DSDs whenever it suits, but actually have no interest in intersex people/people with DSDs. We’re just political pawns to them. The reason I stuck with Twitter was the outreach it gave me. I’d love to find another platform that has a similar presence. I’d use it instead in a heartbeat.

      1. I have seen it all the damn time when I was on twitter. I have seen seen how the Trans activist and even the furry community trot out Intersex/DSD people and even sexualized Intersex/DSD people.

        Right now, I am on Gab, Mewe, Minds, Bitchute and Parler. Those people have the same presence as Twitter and they HIGHLY Respect Freedom of speech and the Right to Speak Freely. It’s why I am on those platforms because I can speak freely and I know the Trans activist won’t hound me on those platforms.

          1. I’m on Mewe and you can look me up on Mewe as well. Mewe/Minds is my Facebook Backup. Gab is my Twitter alternative and Bitchute is my Youtube alternative.

  12. Its appalling that you should have been treated this way. You have helped so many of us understand the issues faced by intersex people. The conversations on Twitter are important but also time consuming – and having myself had a permanent suspension and got back on, I realised I didn’t want to continue to try and talk in an environment where I cold be suspended at any time without any transparency or accountability. I also find it a really unhealthy environment – too much conflict, no room for nuance or developing ideas, and of course so many very abusive men. Its also peculiar in that despite seeming to be so flat, there are real hierarchies and I think a lot of women find their contributions missed or ignored. It started to remind me of trying to talk about really important sensitive issues at a Man City match where Sterling had just scored. Pointless.

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