Trans woman challenging Facebook’s gender-based nipple rule
A trans woman is challenging a rule on Facebook that allows men to post photos of their nipples, but bans women from doing so.
The social networking site introduced new community guidelines earlier this year which affirmed a ban on homophobic hate speech – but also made public its guidance on nipples.
The guidance states that “we restrict some images of female breasts if they include the nipple” – but contains no mention of male ones, allowing men to appear topless but not women.
However, Luna Winters is attempting to challenge the social network’s definitions of gender – by posting pictures of her nipples to the website alongside details of her transition from male to female.
The social network seems uncertain on how to deal with the photos – with some copies of the image remaining online while others have been removed.
(Note: Blurring by PinkNews)
Luna Winters said in a message to Facebook: “Though you may think it, I haven’t broken your roles on showing female nipple.
“I’m transitioning and for all official legal and medical paperwork… I am male. Your rules specifically state ‘female’ and as I’m male I ask you, where do you differentiate between one gender and the next?
“I’ve seen men on here with bigger tits than me yet you do not censor them?
She added: “I’m more than happy to have a conversation.”
A black lesbian conference was this week forced to remove a Facebook event – after getting torrents of racist and homophobic abuse online.
