Twitter suspended the account of Rep. Jim Banks after he referred to Dr Rachel Levine, a trans official, as a man instead of a woman. The U.S. assistant secretary for health was recently sworn in as the first transgender four-star officer in the country's history. She is now an admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Banks was Censored by Twitter for Intentionally Misgendering Trans Official
Banks, who is serving as the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 3rd congressional district since 2017, tweeted from his official account last week, "the title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man."
According to Twitter, the remark violated its hateful conduct policy, which prohibits the "targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals." A spokesperson for the platform told Axios that the tweet must be deleted before the account is unlocked.
"Twitter has suspended my official account for posting a statement of FACT," Banks tweeted from his personal account on Saturday. He wrote, "I won't back down. I'll be posting on my personal account for the time being." He added, "Big Tech must be held accountable!"
Banks is a staunch Donald Trump supporter who backed his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He opposes same-sex marriage.
Banks describes banning transgender people from serving in the military as an "emotional issue." He opposes the military paying for sex reassignment surgery, saying that "I don't think taxpayers should be on the hook for that."
Transphobic Comments by GOP Lawmakers after Levine's Historic Appointment
After Levine's historic appointment, various Republicans made transphobic remarks. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, "A dude who lived the first 50 years of his life as a man isn't the first female anything." She added, "China is laughing at us." Her tweet was also flagged as violating Twitter's hateful conduct policy. It was not removed because the platform said it had "determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert was slammed as 'Hateful Bigot' for her tweet about Levine. Netizens lashed out at the conspiracy-endorsing Republican for her "woke medicine" post about the transgender official.
Dr. Levine is an accomplished pediatrician, a graduate of Harvard and Tulane, a former fellow at one of America's top teaching hospitals, a professor who created medical programs at Penn State to help young people, and PA's former Physician General.
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) October 20, 2021
You are just a hateful bigot. https://t.co/e5ihANWciZ
