KP Deputy superintendent of police suspended for raiding Transgender Alliance Press Conference

Ihsan Shah, deputy superintendent of police, was suspended for a raid on a transgender press conference held at Peshawar Press Club on Oct. 12. 

The press club in Peshawar is the one place that transgender people in the conservative north state can report to media, and to the rest of the world, about the egregious conditions that they are forced to live in.

UCA News Reports that Farzana and her transgender sisters were holding a press conference when police raided the main hall of Peshawar Press Club. Ihsan Shah, deputy superintendent of police, and his guard were stopped by the cabinet members of the club. “Stop this event. You don’t know me. I will see you,” he threatened the resisting journalists. 

The club governing body later boycotted all police ceremonies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the most conservative province in Pakistan. Covering their faces in dupattas (long scarfs) and masks, Transgender Alliance KP later protested outside the press club on Oct. 12. More than 50 journalists demanded the resignation of Shah in a demonstration the next day.

"We face violence every day and demand our right to live and work. An organized group in Peshawar is making porn videos after kidnapping and raping transgenders"

Shah has been suspended but Transgender Alliance KP members continue to receive death threats. According to Farzana, the provincial president of the alliance, 80 transgender people have been murdered in the northern province since 2015. "Eunuchs were holding a press conference at the press club. Police raided the press club and said that they had come because the eunuchs were holding a press conference here"

پریس کلب میں خواجہ سراء پریس کانفرنس کررہے تھے۔ پولیس نے پریس کلب پر دھاوا بول دیا اور کہا کہ اسلیئے ائے ہیں کہ خواجہ سرا یہاں پریس کانفرنس کیوں کررہے ہیں ۔ @pressfreedompk @khattak63 @pressfreedom pic.twitter.com/zk2MrARpqP

— Anwar Zeb (@IMAnwarZeb) October 12, 2021

Father Nasir William, director of the commission for social communications in Islamabad-Rawalpindi Diocese, condemned the police raid on the press club.

 “This is the first time a police team has raided the press club, desecrated its sanctity and held the organizers of press conference hostage. We condemn this attitude and demand our freedom of speech and to protest. Transgenders openly perform at functions organized in Punjab province but remain hidden in Peshawar,” said the priest who has served in Peshawar for more than three years.

NetFlix reinstates engineer suspended for bringing attention to David Chappell's Transphobic Specials

Most of us, myself included, may never have known about the toxicity of the David Chappell Netflix specials.  I mean WGAF about David Chappell, we already knew he is an asshole.

We would have gone our way, blissfully watching our favorite Netflix shows if not for the certified badassery of one Netflix employee. 

There was no ignoring Terra Field's tweet that so rudely awoke the trans community. That one tweet struck us to the very core.

Terra Field became known as the Netflix engineer suspended for tweeting "we are not offended" listing many US trans women, most of whom were black, who were murdered so far this year. Click on her tweet to follow the thread.
 

I work at @netflix. Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness - all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups. You're going to hear a lot of talk about "offense".

We are not offended 🧵

— Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021

Soon afterward Netflix suspended Terra but then rose to their defense stating that Feild wasn't suspended for the tweet. They said that they respected her right to speak freely. They said that Tara Feild was suspended for attending a Board Meeting implying that she broke a company policy. 

 But as it turns out Tara Field was invited by a board member who sent her a link inviting her to attend the virtual meeting. She shared this snip of a Netflix email stating that she has been fully reinstated.

Netflix has reinstated me after finding that there was no ill-intent in my attending the QBR meeting. I've included the statement I requested below.

I'm going to take a few days off to decompress and try to figure out where I'm at. At the very least, I feel vindicated. pic.twitter.com/lYxemYgRkJ

— Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 13, 2021

This is obviously something Netflix would love to make go away.

But it won't.

Those of us who survived this past year remain deeply offended.

The trans employee resource group at Netflix is planning a company-wide walkout on October 20th to protest statements made by co-CEO Ted Sarandos regarding Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special The Closer. - The Verge

Breaking: Netflix has reinstated sr. software engineer Terra Field. The trans ERG has also planned a company-wide walkout on October 20th to protest statements made by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Organizers say Field's reinstatement doesn't solve the larger issues at play. https://t.co/OYrV89HVgA

— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) October 13, 2021

  Column: Ted Sarandos’ Netflix memo on Dave Chappelle is a masterwork of gaslighting.

https://t.co/ib6Wvs5K55

— B. (@bpagelsminor) October 13, 2021

I decided to make an impact myself.

 I can not in good faith continue to support a corporation that so blatantly values profit over my life. Until I see a change I have canceled my Netflix subscription and implore others from the trans community and our allies to take similar action.

Netflix content isn't contained within the US border and neither is the transphobic message that is spread by it's co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

 There are at least 404 transgender people worldwide who aren't offended by David Chappell. They were all murdered. There will be hundreds of events worldwide as we mourn those 404 November 20th at our next Transgender Day of Remembrance.

It is my hope that NetFlix will be held accountable by everyone who mourns our fallen this November.