LGBTQIA+ people aren't "sensitive social issues" for you to censor!

i hope you enjoy the ride into being superceded by a new service if you keep this rule around :)

I don't stream on twitch at all for their hypocritical rules, but I'll be damned if I don't vote to remove a rule that silences my fellow queer creators.

This rule only serves to alienate queer people, minorities, immigrants, and individuals who benefit from women's health access. Get rid of it.

i’m not marking my entire streams as “sensitive social issues” just because i’m trans. go **** yourself my existence shouldn’t be a political issue.

This is a horrible change that only benefits bigots.

This will impact streamers who are out already by making them either flagged or in violation. Im horrified this was even considered, and I will be deleting my account entirely if this clause remains.

The existence of queer people isn't a sensitive social issue!

I am worried this new rule could prevent LGBTQ+ groups from simply talking about their life and experiences, and how they might have been affected by certain laws, on stream.

LGBTQIA+ people are not a "political issue", we are people! We are all f-ing exhausted of being politicized, demonized, dehumanized, traumatized, censored, and silenced. Let us live our lives in peace!!!

Queer people simply existing or discussing their lives isn't sensitive content. This is a ridiculous new rule that is blatantly only for advertiser comfort.

Wouldn't this effectively disrupt and/or completely destroy the Twitch Pride Guild? And that twitch pride the last several years were legitimately for nothing? Why go out of the way to promote lgbtqia+ streamers and then turn on them a few years later? It makes no sense to alienate us in this way.

My existence and many others existence isn't political. Remove the **** button. Why did you even make it???

My existence is not a "sensitive social issue".

Why on earth should LGBT/queer streamers be required to label their streams "sensitive social issues"??? This is completely irrelevant. Massive twitch L. REMOVE THE LAST BULLET!!!

Trans people existing isn't political. We aren't pushing an agenda. We just want to live as we are. We can't just turn that off for a stream and we shouldn't have to label our existence as being gay or trans or poly or whatever else as "controversial" or "explicit." Especially when it's compared to ongoing wars and genocide in the same article. I'm not going to pretend like my own streams aren't explicit, but it ain't because I'm trans. Don't force that label on people. Worse yet, don't force other people to label themselves that under threat of inconsistent policy management.

Remove the final bullet point of Article VII.

If the true intention of Article VII is to protect people from the likes of recent hateful rhetoric, it is a blunt instrument that will do more harm than good. Nothing positive has ever come from banning ALL speech surrounding an issue; this effort merely - inevitably, in fact - leaves the last word in the hands of the oppressor, which is precisely what oppressors seek. Silence.

Actively taking a firm and consistent stance on what is and what is not hateful, bigoted speech takes a lot more work, an undertaking far beyond a blanket rule via Terms of Service... and yet, that is precisely what Twitch MUST do if it is to keep thriving as a platform of discourse and entertainment.

Yes, it's harder to operate that kind of business. Yes, it's more expensive to moderate and maintain. But the alternative is socially unacceptable. It normalises those who want to maintain the status quo, who are the most vocal and the most privileged in any group. (These qualities are not a coincidence.)

If Twitch is to continue as a platform of creativity and community, everyone must be welcome unless bad intent can be proven; conduct must be actively policed with a mindful eye that all societies grow and evolve every day; we can admit that we all make mistakes and we all learn. Crucially, it now needs to reaffirm that a person's self-identity is not a "political statement" so far as that person is concerned -- it is their very essence, and becomes a "socio-political issue" only through the actions of the people that hate them.

This new rule makes sense for current world events, but talking about identity or basic human right of abortion should never be tagged as sensitive. Doing so isolates queer people as "other"; while reproductive rights are literally a human right according to the United Nations so it should not be tagged as sensitive either. Identity and human rights should be normalized, not put in a corner.

I shouldn't have top brand myself to be on a site.

Queer people should be allowed to exist without being labeled as "political" simply because bigots dont like us, and are trying to take our rights away, that isn't okay