Romancelandia, LGBTQAI+, et al v Bouzy

You don’t remember it (it was passing away in my youth) but there was a time when gynecological information was kept from women. It is for that reason that Our Bodies, Ourselves was published, and was a radical act in its time. Such material was banned as obscene in the past, and will be again, if the misogynists have their way. These bans, regardless of how well-intended, are invariably enforced over-broadly, and Spoutible will be pressured to do so. There is a huge, mean-spirited, well-funded, and largely successful movement that is working to that goal.

Background: Chris Bouzy, who created the very useful Bot Sentinel, has founded Spoutible, an attempt at a Twitter replacement. As part of the site, he wrote a vague “adult content” prohibition. LGBTQAI+ leaders and leading romance authors and reviewers, having been burned many times by such prohibitions, asked for clarification. Bouzy doubled down on his vague language. Romance author Jackie Barbosa was banned, apparently for posting the steamy cover of one of her books and asking if it would be permitted. The brilliant jurist and romance author Courtney Milan pointed out that her account of abuse at the hands of a federal judge might be banned. Bouzy proceeded to quote this and attempted to use it to shame her. There was then more poor conduct on the part of Bouzy and his fans.

Mr. Bouzy appears to have a puritanical and misogynistic streak. He provided a useful service with Bot Sentinel, and we had hopes for Spoutible, but I, at least, no longer trust him, and so will not commit myself to making extensive use of Spoutible. And my mind goes back…

I’m primarily a political and legal theorist; I’m not likely to post erotic content. (Let’s stop calling it “adult” content - most everything I write most children won’t follow, or even care about.) But this is a political issue. I remember when you couldn’t get useful medical information about sex – not even in the mail. The Post Office used to ban content.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”