Feeding the Trolls: an open letter to Vox Day.

[la_marquise]

Not everyone on the internet agrees with each other. Not everyone is kind or nice or decent. Some people are controversial, for good or for bad. It's part of how we are as a species -- we argue, we confront, we question. Some people are painful to know, to read. Some people speak frightening truths.
Some people are just disgusting -- racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic -- the list goes on. Usually, when I see such people in action, I back button, refuse to give a platform to their prejudices.
Not today.
Today, writer and blogger Vox Day, aka Theodore Beale, has called a fellow writer -- a gifted, intelligent, brilliant woman writer of colour -- inferior and uncivilised on the grounds of her skin colour.
This man stood as President of sfwa and failed -- but some people voted for him.
This is not acceptable . Not in any way acceptable. I cannot read his words and stay silent. No, Mr Day, you do not get to say that and be allowed to pass in silence. You don't get to pull your 'freedom of speech' card on me. Freedom of speech cuts both ways, applies to all parties. You've had your say.
Here's mine.
It's you that's uncivilised. You are a racist, sexist bigot and I am ashamed to be in an organisation which contains you. I intend to write to sfwa petitioning them to withdraw your membership. In the country I come from, what you posted is hate speech. You are of course free to dismiss me as a feminazi, to deride my opinion on the grounds of my nationality (I'm British), to claim I have no right to any opinion, to post insults about my writing, appearance and career. I don't care. I've had enough of you and the culture of prejudice, privilege and institutionalised abuse that you represent.
And you don't get to silence me.

I'm not linking to his blog. I'm not interested in increasing traffic for him. Readers can find it if they wish.

Comments

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of him and I'm not about to google for enlightenment. He sounds like a total dickhead.

[lagilman]

Beyond dickhead...he's a classic case of failure being blamed on Others, with bile stirred into the mix.

Hateful is the least of what can be said about him.

Previous to this I would have been hesitant to call for a revocation of membership, because that's a tool that can be abused, but attempting to use SFWA's forum to launch a hate-screed against a fellow member should certainly call for censure/banning.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Me too. But this particular piece of behaviour, on top of the ways he's spoken to/about other members in recent months is beyond what I find tolerable. It's an attempt to bully, for one thing, as well as the racism and sexism.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

He's on the shortlist of people about whom, if he were run over by a bus, my reaction would be "Good riddance." A completely loathsome piece of shit in every way possible.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

I find this to be very very rude about perfectly good pieces of shit :)

We need new words.