Someone is impersonating me to leave terrible transphobic comments on blogs.
If you have a blog and you get a comment from “opheliabenson@freethoughtblogs.com” that’s not from me, it’s an impersonator.
Please share that information.
Butterflies and Wheels
Gnu atheism, women's rights, internationalism, universalism, and gossip
Bloody hell. A new (although hardly original) low.
Disgusted and saddened to hear this. Hope you are okay and wishing you all the best. Virtual (((hugs))) from me if you want them, Ophelia Benson
I sure hope Jason Thibeault gets to the bottom of this. If it’s being done by a ‘pitter taking advantage of the situation, then something someone recently said about inadvertently aiding the pit applies. Well done, FtB commenters!
If it’s a commenter from FtB doing this, then Well done, FtB commenters!
@ ^ Anthony K : Jason Thibault has been informed :
http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2015/07/25/how-do-i-know-hes-a-witch-hunter-he-is-dressed-as-one/#comment-1464240
I hope he gets the culprit here.
That is disgusting.
I wonder if the people stooping low enough to do something like that operate under the illusion that they are anything but vicious and vile.
Best wishes from a long-time lurker.
This is despicable regardless of who is doing it and regardless of why they are doing it. It’s wrong on every level. INAL so what do I know, but it seems like this should amount to crossing some kind of legal line beyond just ordinary shitty behavior into some kind of defamation of character territory.
That said, Anthony K please be careful that you don’t become that which you are fighting. People who throw out unfounded accusations or even just little insinuations that “pitters” are or may be behind everything appear to me (though I may be wrong) to be engaging in very much the same kind of othering and the same kind of rumor mongering that’s being used to justify Ophelia’s treatment now. That you included FtB commenters in the mix doesn’t help, IMO.
If you have some evidence by all means bring it forward and I’ll gladly condemn whoever is involved and who so ever gives aid or support to those involved. But absent that you are adding to and fostering the very environment that led to where we are now. You are merely tossing around insinuations as to the nefarious motives, intentions and actions of others based not on any evidence but on preconceived notions and assumptions. You are signaling to others that such behavior is acceptable here.
This is how (false) narratives are created and evolved. You plant the idea that “group X” may be behind this, and suddenly that becomes part of the evolving narrative. That’s precisely the same way false narratives like “Ophelia is an unabashed TERF or transphobe” come to be, and it’s wrong regardless of who the subject is.
I think that’s not the standard we should be setting and that’s not how we should be treating anyone. I’m not saying we should ignore history or be deliberately naive, but we should rise above the general tendency to accuse others and to impart nefarious actions or intentions onto others so freely. We should be more cognizant of how many little insinuations like yours can add up and end up contributing to false narratives.
Just my two cents, YMMV.
Ophelia, I’m sorry this is happening to you, and I hope whoever is pulling this crap is identified and stopped as soon as possible.
Shit. I’m sorry, and ditto – I hope this arsehole gets shown up, and stopped.
I think you’re thoroughly in the wrong on this issue, but I did share this post with some friends who had gotten comments on blogs from this email address.
Thank you for doing that.
Whoever is doing this needs to cut that shit out. Ophelia, I think you’re deeply wrong regarding the issue at hand, but someone going around pretending to be you is beyond the pale.
I’ve also shared it on Facebook.
I’ll confirm with you before letting any comments through claiming to be you and let you know if I get any from that address.
Damn, divisive arseholes must be cackling with glee at all this purity test shit, and now they take full advantage thanks to their complete lack of scruples.
Gender-policing seems to inspire a rabid viciousness that can only be compared to….gun nuts? ‘truthers?’ anti-vaxx?
Ophelia,
I’m not sure if someone already passed this along to you or not, but Oolon posted a comment over at Lousy Canuck’s with the following link showing the contents of a message from someone purporting to be you. Passing it along so you are aware of the details.
https://twitter.com/diagonal_mambo/status/625615578363924480
Thank you Curious.
Thank you, Curious Onlooker, for your compassionate post. Shout out to my friends Sally & Tony for your actions. You’ve inspired me to do likewise. I put the following to my timeline almost seven hours ago. I’ve been away from my computer and didn’t want to mess with my phone to repost here. HTH:
The person posting as opheliabenson@freethoughtblogs.com is an imposter of my friend by that name who does in fact blog there, but has not used that address recently to post elsewhere. Any information about the perpetrator would be much appreciated. This is not to say that I agree with Ophelia’s recent short opinion pieces posted at B&W, but I mostly do. She’s not transphobic, as the imposter portrays.
Auto corrected “too my timeline” s/b “to my timeline.
Also, I provided my website but learned it doesn’t show with the post. I “blog” there, in a manner of speaking, though I haven’t worked on it for a decade (some links are broken). For the curious, it is:
Atheism, à la Carte: Unconvinced of the Existence of any gods
http://www.lacarte.org/freedom/thought/atheism/
Thanks. I haven’t used that address anywhere ever; it’s not a real address.