Conservative podcaster and transphobe Matt Walsh and his fans are angry at Eventbrite because the online ticketing service won’t allow people to create screening events for his anti-trans film What is a Woman?
Walsh has published several tweets accusing Eventbrite of being anti-conservative and hypocritical for banning the showings. In one message notifying an Eventbrite user of their screening’s cancellation, the service wrote, “We do not permit events, content, or creators that promote or encourage hate, violence, or harassment towards others and/or oneself.”
“While you may continue to use Eventbrite for other events, if we become aware of any future event that violates our policies, we will remove it,” the message continues. “Please note that severe or repeated violations of our policies could result in your account being terminated.”
In a self-aggrandizing tweet complaining about the policy, Walsh wrote, “Interesting that @eventbrite bills itself as a ‘global platform’ and promises to ‘allow anyone to create, share, find and attend events that fuel their passions,’ and yet bans screening events for one of the biggest documentaries of the year.”
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“It is absolutely ludicrous and indefensible to categorize our film as ‘hate speech,’” Walsh wrote in another tweet
In yet another tweet targeting the LGBTQ community, Walsh wrote, “So @eventbrite has banned screening events for What Is A Woman and yet will happily provide a platform for ‘all ages’ drag shows. Conservatives should keep this in mind before giving this company their business. They’ve made their priorities clear.”
Walsh and other right-wingers have accused child-friendly drag shows, drag performers, LGBTQ parents, and non-queer allies of “sexualizing” children. The accusation is part of a larger claim that queer people want to “indoctrinate” and “groom” children for sexual abuse. The people making these queerphobic claims never ally with organizations that actually combat child sexual abuse or trafficking.
So @eventbrite has banned screening events for What Is A Woman and yet will happily provide a platform for “all ages” drag shows. Conservatives should keep this in mind before giving this company their business. They’ve made their priorities clear. pic.twitter.com/QnWImvhMWe
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 8, 2022
In actuality, Walsh’s film is hardly “one of the biggest documentaries of the year.” It has been sketchy from its inception and is wildly misinformed at best.
In February, transgender activist Eli Erlick notified the community that Walsh had set up a fake organization, The Gender Unity Project, to try and get trans people to talk on camera for his film. Twitter later removed the organization’s account after Erlick revealed the deception.
In May, a trans man named Steph Kyriacou accused Walsh of non-consensually using his Instagram photos in the film’s trailer, The Daily Dot reported. After Kyriacou publicly complained about it on social media, he received “multiple transphobic replies and tweets” and no response from Walsh, he said.
Walsh’s documentary is filled with misinformation and distortions including claims that gender-affirming surgeries are dangerous and experimental (they aren’t), that children can’t know if they’re transgender (they can), and that trans identities are a modern and Western invention (they’re not).
Far from being an educational “documentary,” his film is really just a propaganda tool in the right-wing’s ongoing war against trans and queer people.
