The Left’s most insidious power grabs involve taking over private companies that run services that are open to the public. Especially where such services have large market shares, left-wing dominance can have real consequences in suppressing conservative (or just normal) ideas.
A case in point is EventBrite. EventBrite’s managers have decided that defending women’s sports is out of bounds. Thus, they have thrown a speech by Riley Gaines at the University of California, Davis off their platform:
The ticketing company Eventbrite notified Riley Gaines that she is prohibited from promoting her November 3 speech at the University of California, Davis on its website.
Eventbrite informed the institute in an email that the listing violates its terms of agreement:
Hello,
We’re reaching out regarding your event listing, Protecting Women’s Sports with Riley Gaines.
We have determined that your event is not permitted on the Eventbrite marketplace as it violates our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, with which all users agree to comply. Specifically, we do not allow content or events that – through on- or off-platform activity – discriminate against, harass, disparage, threaten, incite violence against, or otherwise target individuals or groups based on their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran status, age, or disability. As a result, your event has been unpublished.
Riley’s message is simple: There is a reason we have women’s sports. In athletics, women are at various competitive disadvantages compared with men. Thus, the spread of women’s sports that accelerated beginning in the 1960s has provided women with many opportunities for fitness, competition and leadership–a good thing. So, to preserve those benefits, men should not be allowed to compete in sports events that are designated for women. How that message harasses or incites violence against anyone is impossible to explain (although Riley herself has been the target of harassment and violence on multiple occasions).
Note that I do not use the term “biological men.” “Man” and “woman” are biological terms. Thus, “biological man” is redundant. You cannot turn a man into a woman, no matter how much you mutilate him and give him drugs. Or vice versa.
Outkick pointed out that EventBrite does allow pro-Hamas events on its platform:
But what is allowed, and apparently not hateful, at Eventbrite is the advertising of rallies that spread the messaging from the terrorist group Hamas.
Details at the link. Outkick took the matter to Twitter, which prompted a bizarre response from EventBrite’s Chairman:
I am the Co-Founder and Chairman of Eventbrite and to accuse Eventbrite of being Pro-Hamas is egregious and moronic. How could you make an unsubstantiated slander that I support these genocidal maniacs? Please go fuck yourself! (The last comment represents the individual…
— Kevin Hartz (@kevinhartz) October 25, 2023
I guess Hartz didn’t bother to read the instances of pro-Hamas events on the linked Outkick site. In any event, despite Hartz’s faux outrage, you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for EventBrite’s “Community Guidelines” to be applied to pro-Hamas and other anti-Semitic events.
I am not sure when EventBrite decided that events that defend women’s sports should be banned from their platform. When my organization hosted an event with Riley Gaines in July, we used EventBrite to sign up 430 guests, without any problem. I wrote about that event here, and you can actually watch the full event at the link.
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