If you saw #BoycottEtsy trending and thought it was a another round of Etsy sellers trying to negotiate better terms with the e-commerce giant, don’t be taken in. This time, it’s just a bunch of TERFs throwing a tantrum because they don’t like Etsy’s policy against hate speech and think they, rather than trans people, should be protected by it.
While there’s a lot of legitimate problems with Etsy, from the way they treat their sellers to the proliferation of drop shippers selling poorly manufactured knockoffs of independent designs, the fact that they’re apparently unwilling to tolerate transphobic bigotry is a surprising point in their favor. However, to the class of privileged pseudo-feminists who make hating trans people and trying to strip their human rights their entire personality, Etsy refusing to tolerate this is the worst, most hateful thing they can imagine—a veritable attack on feminism, and women as a whole!
Obviously, they weren’t going to let this stand, and thus, #BoycottEtsy was born. Oh well. At least if they’re spending their time annoying a multi-billion dollar corporation on Twitter (or, to be clear, trying to annoy because, I promise you, Etsy does not care), they’re not harassing actual trans people.
Adding fuel to their tantrum fire is the fact that Etsy hasn’t taken down a bunch of anti-TERF merchandise, complete with cute yet aggressive imagery like a kitten holding a knife. No one with any sense thinks these things are actual threats or attempts at incitement to violence, but when you’re a self absorbed conspiracy theorist who blames all of your problems on the existence of trans people (while ignoring the actual power dynamics at play) everything is threat aimed directly at you. Because, you know, you’re the main character and the centre of the universe.
The thing is, as always, TERFs have wildly miscalculated their numbers and their level of support among the general population. Far from their conviction that they’re backed by a silent majority, too afraid to speak up against the “woke mob,” most people actually support trans people—and are really sick of the powerful bigots that are encroaching on all of our rights that TERFs love to simp for.
While the #BoycottEtsy tag still has a lot of TERFs spewing their hateful rhetoric, it’s also now full of trans people and their allies, countering TERF talking points and sharing some of the really cute merch made by trans artists you can buy through the generally terrible but not in this instance website.
So, you know, if you’re looking for some really cool trans positive accessories, the chance to support independent queer artists, or an opportunity to spite a TERF, #BoycottEtsy has got you covered. Just click on the hashtag and scroll until you find something you like, assuming you can stomach the bigotry sprinkled in there. It’s great when TERFs shoot themselves in the foot like this (and to any TERFs reading, this is called figurative language, not a threat). It’s really weird coming down on the side of an exploitative corporation, but I guess TERFs really do make strange bedfellows out of everybody else.
Happy shopping, I guess?
(featured image: nito100/Getty Images)
