SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KERO) — Twitter CEO Elon Musk has added 2 new words to the list of words recognized as slurs on the platform.
In a tweet, Musk said the words 'cis' and 'cisgender' would be flagged as slurs, and hinted that using the words repeatedly could be considered 'targeted harassment' and lead to temporary account suspensions.
Many have responded with confusion to Musk's insistence, shared by several anti-trans activists, that the term 'cis' is offensive to people who identify with the gender that matches their assigned sex at birth. In reality, 'cis' is a Latin prefix meaning "aligned" or "on the same side."
The American Psychological Association defines gender as "the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person's biological sex."
With regards to describing a person, 'cisgender' means someone who understands their gender to be aligned with the one their culture assigns to their biological sex.
People who are not cisgender include binary trans people, who understand their gender to be fixed but not aligned with their sex, and nonbinary trans people, who understand their gender as fluid or blended relative to their biology.
People who do not experience or express any gender are also considered trans by some members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Human Rights Campaign has developed a glossary of terms to help people better understand and discuss topics related to gender, gender expression, and gender identities.
