Elon Musk Doubles Down On His Classification Of 'Cis' As A Slur

Elon Musk is standing by his decision to regard the terms "cis" and "cisgender" as slurs on his social media platform, X.

He reiterated his stance in a recent update shared via the app, which was previously known as Twitter. The business mogul’s remarks come months after he indicated that using the aforementioned words in a "repeated, targeted" manner may result in suspensions.

Although Musk had come under fire for expressing his views about “cis” and “cisgender” terms in June, that hasn’t stopped the angel investor from sticking with it. Taking to his page last month, he wrote, "The word 'cis' is a heterosexual slur. Shame on anyone who uses it."

Just like the first time he brought it up, he was slammed again by thousands of X users, with this person wondering, "he knows that gay people can be cis… right..?" and another pointed out, "bro doesn't even know that cis has nothing to do with your sexual orientation and has everything to do with your gender (it is short for cisgender!)."

“How can something be a slur against someone’s sexuality when the “slur” has nothing to do with sexuality? This is so embarrassing. You should delete this and start over tomorrow after doing more than 140 characters worth of research. Dork,” a third observer ranted. At the same time, a fourth critic stated:

"why are yall so grossed out by describing words… if you dont want me to describe you as a cis man then dont ever call me a trans man, only a man. not that im ashamed of my identity, but yall tend to like to use “trans” negatively anyways…"

Meanwhile, this person opted to educate Musk, typing, “Umm… @elonmusk, just so you know, it’s a slur to many of us LGBs as well. We are also called “C*s”, especially if we do not agree with the TQ+ ideology.”

In case you missed it, the 52-year-old’s initial comment about the terms had been a response to a post from X user James Esses, who describes himself as an "advocate on gender ideology" and has previously expressed views that some consider anti-trans. 

In Esses' X, he mentioned receiving critical messages from trans activists in response to a previous post where he rejected the term "cis" and expressed a desire not to be described that way. In return, Musk had shared:

"Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions. The words “cis” or “cisgender” are considered slurs on this platform."

It's important to note that the term "cisgender" is commonly used to describe individuals whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. According to Merriam-Webster, it means "of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth."

Going further, Forbes highlighted retired researcher and physician educator Dana Defosse’s claims that she coined the term "cisgender" back in 1994 during her graduate school years.

The term, which was created to describe individuals who aren’t transgender, has gained popularity over the years. It was officially included in both the Oxford English Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary during the mid-2000s.

Musk had previously upset his customers after it came to light that his company was testing a program called "Not a Bot," which mandates that new users in New Zealand and the Philippines must subscribe to an annual membership to post and engage with other content. 

Even though those who opt not to subscribe can still read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts, they won't have the ability to interact on the platform. As reported by The Blast, the statement announcing the decision read:

"This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. It is not a profit driver." 

The statement also pointed readers in the direction of a landing page that covered everything about the new payment experiment that costs a dollar.