William Shatner says ‘straight white cis man’ is a ‘slur’ that ‘harasses and debases’ him
William Shatner. (Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
Across a volley of tweets stretching several days, William Shatner sparred with LGBT+ Twitter users over the term cisgender, often shortened to cis.
The word “cis” can trudge up grievances among some people perhaps not used to being labelled in this way. The phrase, which dates to academic circles in the 1990s, refers to when the gender someone was assigned at birth and their sense of identity match-up, in other words, not trans.
“If you’ve never heard or come across the term cis before, it’s OK to be a bit confused at first,” Kirrin Medcalf, head of trans inclusion at Stonewall, previously told PinkNews.
“Nobody is expecting someone to know everything right away, but it’s important to take the time to learn about why using language like cis helps make a more inclusive, accepting world for everyone.”
It’s a three-letter-long word that appeared to have stung Shatner, who, across seven days, has engaged in online dust-ups with users over the use of the term. He claimed that he is being “harassed” and “debased” by the word, especially when used in the phrase: “Straight white cis man”.
The scuffle unfolded on the same week that a top trans rights group announced that the number of trans people in the US murdered in 2020 just surpassed last year’s total. It’s only been seven months.
William Shatner: ‘The only time CIS is used when referring to me [is to harass or debase].’
The 89-year-old, known best across his decadeslong career for playing Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, tweeted Monday (August 3) about a Twitter user trying to prompt Shatner to block them.
A supporter tweeted: “You’re an old white man so you MUST be a hateful bigot, is the new bigotry the kids are all about these days.”
“You forgot CIS as in, old white CIS man,” Shatner dryly said, “need to stay current.”
Shatner later responded to a user who, according to screenshots, said he was “happily surprised that you didn’t use ‘cis’ in a condescending manner”.
Some need labels and categories to separate people in order to harass or debase them. The only time CIS is used when referring to me is in that way. 🤷🏼♂️ Do we need these labels in order to communicate? No. So those that use them when describing others are doing it for neg reasons. https://t.co/rsPGkvHE7N
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 3, 2020
The actor replied: “Some need labels and categories to separate people in order to harass or debase them. The only time CIS is used when referring to me is in that way. ”
Star Trek legend says cis people are oppressed for being cis.
What followed was a quick cascade of tweets from the director that have roiled many LGBT+ Twitter users.
Shatner offered blunt rebukes to various users who were seeking to inform Shatner that “cis people aren’t oppressed for being cis”, and that the term is simply a descriptor, not a slur.
How wonderful that Dr. Suess did that. I l, however am not a Sneetsch so please don’t put a label on me to define yourself. Is that not clear enough to people?🤷🏼♂️ https://t.co/R63OZcIHhT— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 8, 2020
Being Jewish in a Catholic section in Montreal, Canada; I was beat up as a kid for being a Jew. I had distant relatives who died under the Nazi’s. I hope you can understand that I feel “distinctions” are labels & labels are dehumanizing. 🤷🏼♂️ Am I clear? https://t.co/PGEGhHVrPM— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 8, 2020
Who are you to tell a person that you can use words of debasement against them because some unknown “others” use debasing words towards you? That has to be one of the most ignorant & childish statements I’ve seen. Grow up & accept that you are contributing to your own issues.🙄 https://t.co/AOLaC9CKos— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 8, 2020
As Shatner’s Twitter mentions mushroomed, the flashpoint appeared to arrive Saturday (August 8), when the producer, refusing to dial-in his comments, provided examples of what, he said, were examples of cis people being oppressed specifically for being cis.
How about infant females put to death in cultures where males are preferred, LGB teens who come out to unaccepting parents and are tossed out on the street or beat up or worse, etc…? All of them are presumed to be under your label of “cisgendered” https://t.co/LUZ6WAsa6g
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 8, 2020
But Shatner’s attempted firewall against criticism did little to tamper it. Many users flagged that his examples of violence and discrimination have little to do with being cis, but rather touched off the complexity of oppression.
People are categorised in various ways – from their class to sexual orientation to race. What these terms allow is a way to explain the challenges specific to people categorised in that way may face, and how these terms sometimes overlap with others.
These terms represent people’s real, lived experiences, there for people to better understand themselves and let others know who they are.
“Ultimately, [cis is] just another adjective, but for trans and non-binary people, it can be the difference between being welcomed in society, and being ostracised,” Emma Underwood, trans programme officer with the LGBT Foundation, said.
The use of cis is not a slur, users stressed, and is simply a descriptor of a certain kind of identity that, in this case, carries privileges that those who are not cis – such as trans folk – do not have. Both cis and trans people can experience hardship in life, but trans people experience systemic prejudice specifically because they are not cis.
https://twitter.com/freddymcconnell/status/1292177286620483585
https://twitter.com/monanrzi/status/1292191595148840960
https://twitter.com/KitGiordano/status/1292171836923535360
https://twitter.com/MavenOfMayhem/status/1292154944376774658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1292154944376774658%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.embedly.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmavenofmayhem%2Fstatus%2F1292154944376774658image%3D
imagine being a super rich millionaire and never having to struggle for much only to end up spending 5 days shitting on other people trying to talk about the struggles they face and which other people, cisgender people like yourself, don’t.
you absolute fucking spoon.— fall girls (@notCursedE) August 8, 2020
As the odyssey continued, Shatner doubled down on his take that the word cis is a slur. Amid accusations of transphobia, he denied that his views are anti-trans, emphasising his issue was the word cis itself, and said: “I never had any problem with people being trans.”
Why would you say that? I never had any problem with people being trans. I had a problem with the need to label me CIS because for years it’s been used as a slur. And I still have that problem with someone not respecting my wishes to not label me. Labeling people is wrong. Period https://t.co/LccfOdC97J— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 8, 2020
How am I being transphobic? I asked that people not use the label CIS because it’s only being used as a devisive term of debasement & harassment. What I got back was “Bill we have to call you that so we can define ourselves” That’s a BS answer. If you need to use it UR a troll.🤷🏼♂️ https://t.co/tpEdBFuWEE— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 8, 2020
On Sunday (August 9) he reiterated that “straight white cis man” is a slur and is, he claimed, “used most commonly in harassment”.
