Twitch apologizes for using term ‘womxn’ following intense social media backlash

Twitch has apologized for using the term “womxn” in a tweet, following an intense social media backlash.

On Monday, the livestreaming platform celebrated the first day of Women’s History Month by sharing a message of support on Twitter.

“Join us in celebrating and supporting all the Womxn creating their own worlds, building their communities, and leading the way on Twitch,” the company wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

Unfortunately, the message wasn’t well received by many in the transgender and gender-noncomforming community, who say that the alternative spelling can be perceived as transphobic.

“Changing the word implies that trans and [nonbinary] women are not real women and it’s disrespectful to the trans women who are fighting to be recognized as women,” Twitter user @Wunderzorro wrote in one of the 4,000 comments left on the company’s Twitter page.

“Your misguided attempt to seem “inclusive” is nothing short of idiotic and I’d rather be called an actual slur than being patronised with a ridiculous and unnecessary word,” added user @TheIshikawaRin.

According to dictionary.com, which began defining “womxn” in 2019, the term is considered “an alternative spelling [of women] to avoid the suggestion of sexism perceived in the sequences m-a-n and m-e-n, and to be inclusive of trans and nonbinary women.”

Such definition, however, has largely been criticized by the transgender community, since trans women are not a “special, separate category” of women, as the former chair of Trans Media Watch, Jennie Kermode, told the BBC in 2018.

The Amazon-owned service, which is especially popular among gamers, heard the complaints and quickly backtracked on its spelling decision.

“While we originally wanted to use a word that acknowledges the shortcoming of gender-binary language, after hearing directly from you, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community on Twitch, we will be using the spelling “women” moving forward,” Twitch wrote on Twitter Monday evening.

“We want to assure you that we have, and will continue to, work with the LGBTQIA+ community,” the company wrote, sing the acronym that also acknowledges the intersex, asexual and all other identities within the community.

“We’re still learning. Our good intentions don’t always equate to positive impact, but we’re committed to growing from these experiences, doing better, and ensuring we’re inclusive to all,” Twitch added.

Some Twitter users had some suggestions on how the company could tackle future issues of LGBTQ representation, if it ever becomes necessary again.

“Here’s an idea,” a user named Katthew wrote. “Hire trans and nonbinary people and then LISTEN to them.”