Everybody’s Business

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‘Just for females’ social media app Giggle under fire for ‘excluding’ trans women

Giggle, a social media app designed for “females”, has come under fire for excluding trans women with its use of artificial intelligence.

The app is marketed as a female-only space that allows women to find roommates, engage in freelance work, find friendship groups and more. 

The Verge reported that Giggle, which first launched in early 2020, uses facial recognition to determine if new users are male or female, however it has allegedly failed to properly recognise women of colour or transgender women. 

Jenny, a 23-year-old trans woman from California, told The Verge: “The way the app works is when you install it, you have to take a picture of yourself and it uses AI to analyse your face.

“And if it decides you’re a woman, it will let you in. If it decides you’re a man, it will reject you. But if it rejects you, you can just submit another picture.”

Jenny said she first tried to sign up for Giggle two years ago, however she claims she was removed from the app without warning when she tweeted about joining. A Twitter user tagged Giggle’s founder and CEO Sall Grover, claiming that Jenny was “transgressing women’s boundaries” by using the app.

Grover told PinkNews: “Giggle is a social networking app for females. Males are excluded from the user base. There is no other specific demographic that is excluded from the app other than males. 

“Like how Grindr is an app for gay men and therefore not for women, Giggle is an app for a specific demographic. In our case, females.

“Giggle is clearly stated as being for females. It would be lovely, however, if male people respected female spaces and left them alone.”

Taking to Twitter, Grover shared PinkNews‘ comment request pertaining to the exclusion of trans women, suggesting she considered trans women to be males, remarking: “In case anyone was wondering whether or not misogyny is alive and f**king well.”

When asked if trans women were encouraged to join Giggle, she replied: “No males are ‘encouraged’ to join Giggle.”

Grover also failed to acknowledge that Grindr is not just an app exclusively for gay men, but instead a space that’s welcoming of trans and non-binary people, as well as bisexual and questioning cis men.

PinkNews has contacted Grover for clarification.

Giggle has also been criticised for its use of AI to open an account; the app works with facial-recognition AI company Kairos, which was found to misgender women of colour in a 2019 report.

The way the app works is that a user sends off a selfie to Giggle. If the Kairos AI is 95 per cent certain the person is female, they are allowed to create an account. 

In the 2019 report on Kairos, however, Joe Buolamwini, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab, found that the technology misgendered darker-skinned women 22.5 per cent of the time. 

Melissa Doval, then-CEO of Kairos, told the New York Times that it had since made changes to its algorithm to improve its accuracy.

Grover denied that the platform’s AI prevented women of colour from using it, saying “women of every race are not just welcome on Giggle, women of every race are on Giggle”.

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Fashion designer Thierry Mugler dies, aged 73

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The French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler has died at the age of 73. His death was due to “natural causes” according to his agent.

On his official Mugler Instagram page, a statement said, “We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on Sunday January 23rd 2022. May his soul Rest In Peace.”

Mugler was born and raised in Strasbourg, where he trained in his teens as a ballet dancer for six years. He relocated to Paris at the age of 24 and launched his eponymous fashion line in 1973. He opened his first boutique in 1978 and his fame skyrocketed in the 80s, with his broad-shouldered, theatrical designs perfectly chiming with the power-dressing ethos of the times.

Diana Ross, David Bowie and Grace Jones were among those he dressed, and celebrities flocked to his spectacular runway shows.

In later years, besides his clothing, he became just as known for his perfumes, including Angel and Alien.

Mugler sold the rights to his name to Clarins in 1997. He retired from his label in 2002 but continued to design occasional outfits for big-name clients. This included Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Rihanna, and Kim Kardashian’s Met Ball outfit in 2019. He was creative director for Beyoncé’s I AM world tour in 2010.

Mugler was an out, gay man. After retiring from his label, stepped away from the limelight and went by his real first name, Manfred. A longtime fan of bodybuilding, he transformed his body with the help of a trainer and bulked up, becoming quite unrecognizable from his former self (although this was partly due to reconstructive facial surgery he also underwent after a bad motorbike accident).

In a 2019 interview with Fashion, Mugler said he’d never had a problem with being gay, only with the reaction of others to it.

“I didn’t have a problem with my sexuality or identity. I had a problem with my family, and I had a problem with the world. I was feeling out of place, and I was feeling very miserable. I was in the ballet for six years, and no one in my family came to see me onstage; I was the ugly duckling who left the theatre alone. I guess I was too bizarre. I would watch the skies at night and look for the blue star and know that I had to hold on.”

“He was timeless and ahead of his time,” supermodel Jerry Hall told the New York Times in 2019. “He knew all about gender fluidity and his clothes reflected the heat and sexuality of the late 70s and early 80s.”

Among those to pay tribute to the designer was Diana Ross.

Casey Cadwallader, the current creative director at the house of Mugler, wrote on Instagram, “Manfred, I am so honored to have known you and to work within your beautiful world. You changed our perception of beauty, of confidence, of representation and self empowerment. Your legacy is something I carry with me in everything I do.”

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Antigay wedding photographer had a very bad day in court

A Christian wedding photographer who refused to work at same-sex weddings is going to have to do some career soul-searching after a federal court in New York dismissed her lawsuit.

Emilee Carpenter filed the suit in April after she was asked to photograph seven same-sex weddings, arguing that New York’s nondiscrimination laws forced her to betray her faith by snapping photos of happy, same-sex couples or else pay fines of up to $100k.

She claimed her First and 14th amendment rights were being violated.

“Just as the government cannot compel a lesbian baker to create a cake condemning same-sex marriage or an atheist playwright to wax positively about God, New York cannot force Emilee to convey messages she objects to,” the lawsuit argued.

U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. of Western New York said “the Court is not persuaded” as he dismissed Carpenter’s claims Monday.

“The crux of Plaintiff’s claims is that her photography is the product of her unique artistic style and vision. Thus, an exemption for Plaintiff’s unique, non-fungible services would necessarily undermine, not serve, the State’s purpose, as it would ‘relegate [same-sex couples] to an inferior market’ than that enjoyed by the public at large,” Geraci said.

Carpenter was defended by The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian nonprofit advocacy group “that has supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the U.S. and criminalization abroad; has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad; has contended that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia; and claims that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“ADF also works to develop ‘religious liberty’ legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBTQ people on the basis of religion,” the group adds.

ADF has requested the case be brought before the Supreme Court.

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Amazon’s bestselling LGBTQ book is a hateful picture book comparing being trans to pretending to be a walrus

The bestselling “LGBTQ+ Book” on Amazon is Johnny the Walrus — a hateful picture book by The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh that compares the gender identities of trans youth to a young boy who imagines he is a walrus. Amazon mislabeled the book into its LGBTQ+ Books section and, as a result, is promoting harmful anti-trans views to its consumers interested in LGBTQ stories.

The top 3 LGBTQ+ books on Amazon

Walsh is a prominent podcast host at The Daily Wire, a right-wing media outlet and a cesspool of bigotry and hatred which frequently targets the LGBTQ community. Walsh himself has a long record of espousing extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, including falsely comparing best practice medical care for trans youth to “molestation and rape” and calling doctors who serve trans youth “pedophiles” — and now he has used Amazon’s mislabeling to claim he is an “LGBT author” and “one of the leading LGBT voices in the country.”

Johnny the Walrus is a gross misrepresentation of the experiences of trans youth 

Johnny the Walrus is an anti-trans allegory that compares a child imagining that he is a walrus to society affirming and accepting trans youth, including by providing lifesaving, best practice medical care when kids go through puberty. In reality, research shows that transgender youth are best able to succeed when their teachers and families accept and affirm their gender identity, which has been proven to reduce their risk of experiencing depression, homelessness, and suicidal ideation. 

The description for the children’s board book claims that it is about “a little boy with a big imagination” named Johnny who “forced to make a decision between the little boy he is and the things he pretends to be.” The book depicts Johnny first pretending to be a walrus by using wood spoons as tusks and socks as fins, then going through the process of trying to become a walrus by eating worms, putting on gray makeup, and visiting a doctor who offers a “simple procedure” to cut his “feet into fins!”

Notably, Amazon has faced backlash for selling anti-trans books in the past. The company continues to sell the book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by anti-trans author Abigail Shrier, even though Amazon employees filed an internal complaint in April claiming that the book violates the company’s policy against selling books “that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.” 

Johnny the Walrus’s position atop Amazon’s bestselling LGBTQ books list comes at a time when right-wing advocates and Republican officials are seeking to ban LGBTQ books in schools. These critics have targeted LGBTQ books for their so-called “sexually explicit” material, including falsely claiming that one promoted pedophilia. 

On Fox News, Walsh gloated that he is “an LGBT author” and “one of the leading LGBT voices right now according to Amazon”

During the December 7 edition of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Walsh promoted his book and stated that Amazon “did this on their own. They listed it as an LGBT book.” He also noted that his book is “the top-selling LGBT book. So I’m an LGBT author” and “one of the leading LGBT voices in the country right now according to Amazon, and I embrace that.” Video fileVideo Player

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Numerous other right-wing media outlets have promoted Walsh’s anti-trans picture book. The Daily Wire has hyped the book and bragged about its labeling as an LGBT book in several articles and videos, including a video of Walsh reading the book to a group of children. The outlet is also selling Johnny the Walrus t-shirts. 

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The never ending Dave Chappelle Netflix scandal just took another sad turn

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The fallout from Dave Chappelle’s transphobic Netflix special continues…

Terra Field, the transgender Netflix employee that helped organize a company-wide walkout protest last month, just announced she’s resigning from the company. Field joins fellow organizer B. Pagels-Minor in saying they will also withdraw an unfair labor practice charge they filed earlier this month.

Both Pagels-Minor and Field had alleged that Netflix retaliated against them following the walkout, which was organized to protest against the streaming giant carrying the comedian’s stand-up special The Closer, which many felt was bigoted against LGBTQ people.

“My clients have resolved their differences with Netflix and will be voluntarily withdrawing their NLRB charge,” Laurie Burgess, a lawyer representing Pagels-Minor and Field said in a statement, according to Yahoo News.

A spokesperson for Netflix also echoed the resolution, writing that all parties “have resolved our differences in a way that acknowledges the erosion of trust on both sides and, we hope, enables everyone to move on.”

Neither Netflix nor the former employees would discuss if the three parties have reached a settlement.

Netflix fired Pagels-Minor in October following the walkout, claiming that Pagels-Minor had also leaked confidential information within the company–a charge Pagels-Minor denied. Netflix also suspended Field after she attended a high-level meeting to which she was not invited; the company subsequently reinstated her to her job.

Now, Field is leaving Netflix voluntarily.

“This isn’t how I thought things would end, but I’m relieved to have closure,” Field wrote in her letter of resignation. “Shortly after B. was fired for something I did not and do not believe they did, I made a decision: sink or swim, I was going to walk side by side with B. as they had for so many of us while they led the [Netflix transgender employee resource group.]”

The Closer comedy special has attracted ardent criticism and defenders over Dave Chappelle’s remarks about the LGBTQ community.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the special–which includes Chappelle making crude remarks about transgender anatomy and accusing the queer community of constantly attacking African-Americans–before admitting that he “screwed up.” Other celebrities, including Andrew Yang, Caitlyn Jenner, and Jon Stewart, have also voice support for Chappelle.

As for Chappelle, he’s back on the road making anti-LGBTQ jokes again, despite saying he would retire them from his repertoire. At a Monday night screening for his new documentary project, the self-proclaimed “uncancelled comedian” once again let his transphobia and homophobia fly.

In addition to a running gag about pronouns, he used the word “f*g,” joked about claiming to identify as a woman to get a better prison placement, and waved off his previous promise to stop making jokes about LGBTQ people, saying that rule only counts when cameras are rolling.

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Christian florist settles after refusing service for a same-sex wedding

A settlement was reached Thursday in the nearly decade-old case of a Christian flower shop owner in Washington state who refused to provide a same-sex couple flowers for their wedding despite the state’s anti-discrimination laws. 

The U.S. Supreme Court left intact the state court rulings against Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, in July. Shortly afterward, Stutzman petitioned for a rehearing. 

Stutzman withdrew her petition Thursday and agreed to pay a settlement of $5,000 to the couple, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed.

“We took on this case because we were worried about the harm being turned away would cause LGBTQ people. We are glad the Washington Supreme Court rulings will stay in place to ensure that same-sex couples are protected from discrimination and should be served by businesses like anyone else,” the couple said in a statement. “It was painful to be turned away and we are thankful that this long journey for us is finally over.”

The case dates to 2013, when Stutzman refused to provide flowers for the couple’s wedding. She said it would violate her Southern Baptist beliefs and her “relationship with Jesus Christ.” 

Using an argument similar to that of Colorado baker Jack Phillips in the hot-button 2018 Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Stutzman argued that her floral arrangements are works of art and that having to create them for same-sex weddings would trample on her freedom of expression.

A lower court ruled in 2015 that Stutzman broke a Washington law that bars businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the couple in 2017 and then again in 2019, finding that selling flowers for a wedding “does not inherently express a message about that wedding.”

Ingersoll and Freed will donate the $5,000 to a local chapter of PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group, and they also plan to match the donation, Thursday’s statement said.

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U.S. proposes rescinding Trump-era expansion of religious exemptions

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced a proposal that would rescind a Trump administration rule that expanded a religious exemption from anti-discrimination laws for federal contractors.

The rule, which went into effect in the last days of the administration of President Donald Trump, broadened the exemption to include employers who “hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose.” The exemption previously applied to a more narrowly defined set of religious groups.

By rescinding the rule, the department will return to policies consistent with those in place during the administrations of President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, Jenny Yang, director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, said in an interview.

“We are proposing a rescission of the religious exemption rule to protect workers from discrimination and safeguard principles of religious freedom,” Yang said.

The Trump administration framed the rule as a necessary step to ensure the full participation of religious organizations in the federal contractor system. But critics of the rule, including LGBTQ groups, warned that it would open the door to discrimination.

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In light of pre-existing protections for religious organizations, the OFFCP found the Trump rule to be “unnecessary and problematic,” Yang said. Rescinding the rule would help ensure the exemption is applied consistently, she added.

“The proposed rescission would also promote economy and efficiency in federal procurement by preventing the exclusion of qualified and talented employees on the basis of protected characteristics,” she said. “This ensures that taxpayer funds are not used to discriminate.”

The OFCCP enforces discrimination and wage-and-hour laws against federal contractors. In 2014, the agency banned contractors from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

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Lego vows to remove gender bias from its toys

Danish toymaking giant Lego on Monday pledged to remove gender bias from its toys after research found girls were being held back by gender stereotypes. 

The company, whose colorful building blocks and figurines sell in more than 130 countries, said it wants to make its products more inclusive so that children’s ambitions are not limited by gender. 

“The company will ensure any child, regardless of gender identity, feels they can build anything they like,” Lego said in a statement. 

Lego vowed to make its products “free of gender bias and harmful stereotypes,” saying there is a need for wider society to “rebuild perceptions.” 

Lego did not elaborate on what exactly it would modify about its products to bring about these changes. However, in an emailed statement to NBC News, the company said it has transitioned its product and marketing department from gender-focused product groups to groups focusing on “passions and interests.” The company also said it has recently published a diversity and inclusivity playbook for its product design and marketing teams. 

“The benefits of creative play such as building confidence, creativity and communication skills are felt by all children and yet we still experience age-old stereotypes that label activities as only being suitable for one specific gender,” Julia Goldin, chief product and marketing officer, said in a company statement.

California law requires gender-neutral area for children’s products in stores

OCT. 11, 202101:27

Lego’s promise came as the company released new research showing that girls were more open to engage in different types of play than boys, but societal norms about play, including attitudes of their parents, limited their potential. 

The research involved nearly 7,000 parents and children in seven countries, Lego said. 

Some praised Lego’s decision, saying other companies would feel compelled to follow its lead. 

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“If manufacturers and stores alike stop relying on gender stereotyping in their appeals to children, we could begin to see more noticeable changes to the children’s marketplace,” Rebecca Hains, professor of media and communication at Salem State University and children’s media culture expert, said in a Facebook post, commenting on the announcement. 

“They’re such a force in the industry that perhaps where Lego goes, others will follow,” she said.

The United Kingdom-based Let Toys Be Toys campaign, which challenges gender stereotypes in toy marketing, also welcomed the news on Twitter, saying the negative effects of gender stereotyping on children is something they have been raising with Lego since 2012. It also noted purple and blue branding of some Lego sets, catering to boys and girls differently. 

“The idea that girls and boys play or should play with different toys is harmful — it reinforces harmful stereotypes,” said Pragya Agarwal, behavioral scientist and visiting professor of inequities and social justice at England’s Loughborough University. 

A child plays during a visit to Legoland at the American Dream Entertainment Mall, in Rutherford, N.J.
A child plays during a visit to Legoland at the American Dream Entertainment Mall, in Rutherford, N.J.Anthony Behar / Sipa USA via AP file

On Saturday, California became the first state to say large department stores must display products like toys in gender-neutral ways. 

Lego’s announcement came on the U.N. International Day of the Girl Child, which focuses global attention on the challenges girls face worldwide and promotes the empowerment of girls. 

The United Nations says that while some progress has been made in recent years, women and girls still carry the burden of gender inequality, with discriminatory laws and social norms remaining pervasive, and women continuing to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership. Its 2020 report found that less than 50 percent of working-age women are in the labor market, and unpaid domestic and care work falls disproportionately on women, restraining their economic potential.

A 2020 report by The Fawcett Society, a U.K. gender equality group, found that harmful gender stereotypes can significantly limit children’s potential, and the toys they play with can be a contributing factor. It found that 66 percent of parents want to see companies voluntarily advertise toys to boys and girls in the same way

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Dildo-inspired insemination kit designed to make queer conception more intimate

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A dildo-style home insemination kit is designed to make conception a pleasurable and intimate process for queer couples.

Even if queer couples decide to self-inseminate at home, the procedure can feel strange and clinical, but the Way device makes sure that there can still be fun when it comes to baby-making.

At first glance, the insemination device looks exactly like a minimalist, silicone, pink and white dildo. But on closer inspection, a small bubble is visible at the base, which is used to hold semen.

The kit comes with a jar, into which semen is deposited, before the user sucks it into the bubble. When inserted into the vagina during sex, the bubble can be pressed to release its contents.

The tubes through which the semen travels along the dildo can also be removed, and worn as a harness around the hand to inseminate the conceiving partner while fingering.

Way device designer Kamila Rudnicka, from Poland, told Dezeen: “Hands are very important when we are making love, especially in lesbian sex.

“That’s why I decided to use them to connect two people. Just using a device will not give them the same feeling as using their own body during sex.”

While the Way clearly makes for a more pleasurable insemination experience for the conceiving partner, it also allows the non-conceiving partner to feel part of the process. 

During the design process, Rudnicka said she consulted with gynaecologistsand psychologists, and also interviewed potentials customers.

She said: “I wanted to create a device that would help them focus on something other than just getting pregnant.

“In a survey I did of couples, the majority said that even if at-home insemination can be less effective they still want to try it in their own bed.”

Although home insemination is a great option for many couples, it is not always as effective as other methods like intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro insemination (IVF), which can be better choices for those struggling with fertility.

Rudnicka explained: “This is not a device for people who have been trying to get pregnant for years.

“It’s for couples where one side has HIV, for lesbian couples, transgender people and those with disabilities – people who are unable to conceive during their regular sexual activity… The hope is to make it a ‘first step’ people can take before resorting to the sterile medical procedure at the hospital.”

The Way is not yet on the market, and is still in the prototype phase, but the designer hopes it will be available for purchase in the near future.

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Anti-LGBT+ Chick-fil-A promises not to ‘discriminate’… against anti-vaxxers

A sign displayed by a Tennessee franchise of the anti-LGBT+ fast food chain Chick-fil-A has gone viral for condemning discrimination… against anti-maskers and the unvaccinated.

The sign, pasted on the window of the Chick-fil-A in Franklin, Tennessee, reads: “We do not discriminate against unvaccinated, religion, race, sex, vaccinated, maskless, mask. All neighbours are welcome.”

When the message was shared on Twitter by anti-LGBT+ right-wing YouTuber Lauren Chen, social media users were quick to point out that “equating mask/vaccine policy with religion/ race/ sex is so fundamentally stupid”, and that one significant group was missing from the list.

One Twitter user wrote: “They don’t discriminate against sex, just sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Would you like a delta variant combo with your order today?”

The Chick-fil-A sign on discrimination is painfully ironic, considering the chain’s anti-LGBT+ stance

Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBT+ organisations over the years, but in 2019 it announced a decision to end donations to organisations which discriminate against LGBT+ people.

Days later, the company backtracked.

Earlier this year, in a shocking report from Daily Beast, it was revealed through tax filings and “accidental public disclosures” that billionaire Chick-fil-A owner Dan Cathy was still funding anti-LGBT+ causes as part of one of “the most sophisticated dark money operations” ever.

The Chick-fil-A billionaire was found to be donating to the National Christian Charitable Foundation (NCF), the sixth largest charity in the US and the leader in the fight against the Equality Act, which aims to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The money donated to the NCF, a donor-advised fund, then goes to other groups, some of which are at the forefront of the fight against passing the Equality Act.

In 2018, it gave a massive grant of $6,585,923 (£4,647,620) to the viciously anti-LGBT+ Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

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