Conservative Christian radio host Erick Erickson has had his Twitter account unfrozen after deleting a tweet about transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, but the Georgia-based commentator was unrepentant.
His first post after his three-day suspension was a screenshot of the original “Laurel Hubbard is a man” tweet that ran afoul of Twitter’s rules against “hateful conduct,” along with a link to an essay entitled, “I Stand By My Tweet.”
“I return to Twitter to reiterate my tweet,” Mr. Erickson tweeted. “Twitter may have decided to ally with Woke-O Haram, but no one can change their sex, including Laurel Hubbard.”
He blasted the LGBTQ movement and social media for punishing those who argue that Hubbard, the 43-year-old New Zealand Olympian who transitioned to female at age 34, cannot change sexes.
“Twitter may not like that I called Laurel Hubbard a man, but Hubbard is a man even if he has decided otherwise,” said Mr. Erickson. “None of us should indulge in a lie for the sake of someone’s self-esteem. That is not healthy for society.”
While progressives are quick to accuse Republicans and conservatives of being fascists, “it is quintessential totalitarianism to silence and disappear the views of those unacceptable to the rulers,” he said.
Twitter’s policy against hateful conduct prohibits tweets that “promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”
I return to Twitter to reiterate my tweet. Twitter may have decided to ally with Woke-O Haram, but no one can change their sex, including Laurel Hubbard. https://t.co/J1p6rd1kF3
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 9, 2021
Mr. Erickson’s offending tweet came in defense of conservative pundit Allie Beth Stuckey, who was suspended from Twitter for saying about Hubbard: “He’s still a man, and men shouldn’t compete with women in weightlifting.” Her account has since been restored.
Mr. Erickson, the former editor-in-chief of RedState, acknowledged that “Twitter may choose to disable my account altogether.
“But neither Twitter nor the transgender movement can actually silence basic biology,” he said. “There is a madness burning through our society right now. Woke-o Haram, like other terrorists, use fear and violence to get their way. They’ll eventually lose. But there will be social damage along the way.”
Hubbard, who did not complete any of her three lifts in the Aug. 2 women’s super-heavyweight competition, became the first transgender athlete to compete on the basis of gender identity at the Olympics.
International Olympic Committee medical director Richard Budgett said at a July 29 press conference in Tokyo that “everyone agrees that transwomen are women” as the committee reviews its guidelines on transgender athletes.
