[CONTENT WARNING: Aftermath of abuse]

Remember this, from a few posts ago?

This sets up a perfect ad hominem attack. No-one would dare accuse Oates of lying about self-harm in order to hurt EoT, and since EoT cannot speak freely to defend themselves the narrative is controlled by Oates and her supporters. A number of transphobes have leapt in to exploit Oates’ pain to attack EoT’s reputation. […]

That also explains why Rationality Rules made this video. He can’t win against EoT’s arguments, and his repeated falsehoods and misrepresentations suggest he knows this. But the sooner he joins in the pile-on with his own video, the more emotional and financial damage he can inflict on EssenceOfThought. Hence why he’s gleefully breaking out his sharpest knives. […]

That isn’t argument. That isn’t debate. That is targeted abuse that will be amplified by social media and echo for weeks, months, maybe years. And it’s about damn time we listened to the science on this.

I was sending up a signal flare over EssenceOfThought, as I saw they were being targeted by atheists and skeptics for daring to criticize transphobia, yet unable to fight back due to the legal process. Well, just over two months later, EoT is finally able to defend themselves. At the same time, we get to see the damage that was done.

Following Oates’ defamation and the subsequent fallout our channel has lost more than 800 subscribers. A rather sizable dent when you consider the fact that people who unsubscribe are likely to be amongst the most active when it comes to video interaction.

We’ve also lost more than $160 in Patreon sponsorship. That’s net loss by the way. Not all of which has been the result of Oates’ defamation, but certainly a large portion of it was. This is compounded by the fact that myself and Udita only just moved and that we’re now seeing a professional counsellor to help us both with the abuse we’ve faced the past 6 months. […]

Which is another way what occured has cost both myself and Udita. The time and energy spent filing multiple police reports and maintaining contact with both the Indian police and the Metropolitan Police whilst also talking to various legal experts. But that’s all pretty basic stuff. The true cost for both myself and Udita has been psychological.

Before this all started we were already seeking mental health support for the abuse Stephen Woodford has wrought upon us. Udita had already tracked down and LGBT+ inclusive counsellor in Delhi. We were just waiting on account that we needed to save money for our wedding, for my visa, and for the move to our new home. […]

Seeing large secular YouTubers post defamative video after defamative video, actively propagating a fictional narrative of what took place both on the 4th of September and the months leading up to it was infuriating. It’s truly eye opening to see the actions of some people in the secular community.

Worst of all however was the way the sheer volume of the lies started to eat away at my own thoughts. I remember waking up each day and checking Twitter’s advanced search to see if I’d only responded to Oates’ Tweets four times. You see, I became afraid that what I remembered of the evidence wasn’t actual memory but a dream from the night before. That I’d invented the baiting or the number of times I’d responded to Oates as a means to justify what had happened to myself. I found myself reading through the full police report each night to focus down on what I could demonstrate occured. And sometimes it still wasn’t enough.

A transgender person had stood up for their rights, and some of the skeptic/atheist community knowingly heaped abuse on them for it.

The raw hypocrisy on display here is amazing. Criticism of people who defend violent transphobes is off limits. Abuse of trans people defending their human rights is fair game. That’s the message every single one of the creators who rushed to partake in Oates’ defamation is sending out.

Unlike many in the comments, these creators know that Oates had baited me. They know I had her blocked. They know I’d only mentioned her a handful of times. But they chose to go with the lie that personally benefited each of them rather than stand for what was true and what was right. No nuance, no self reflection on how their response to me far surpassed what I’d done. Nothing.

Because as much as many of them pretend to fine with trans people or are anti-bullying, those are just a bumper stickers to get more clicks and to deflect criticism from the trans community over their harassment of its members. They don’t give a crap about the damage they’ve caused. Hell, many of them seem to revel in it.

What did the rest of the community do, the part which defends the rights of transgender people? Sit on their hands, mostly. Kudos go to William Brinkman for linking to my post, but I can’t see anyone else who tried to push back against the tidal wave of misinformation and abuse directed at EoT. This sends a pretty clear message to transgender people: when the shit hits the fan, we won’t support you. We won’t defend you. We’ll leave you to be crushed by the abuse, and maybe only circle back when the coast is clear.

Ever wonder why there aren’t that many transgender bloggers on FreethoughtBlogs, and why those that came didn’t stay long? I have a theory.