Crowdfunder for Giggle App suspended by Kickstarter

[NonnyMouse1337]

Giggle is the only app that is exclusively for women a.k.a. female humans. They had set up a Kickstarter crowdfunder to raise the funds needed to improve and expand the app.

In a highly predictable but no less enraging move, their crowdfunder has suddenly been suspended by Kickstarter. 😠😠😠🤬🤬🤬

Hello,
This is a message from Kickstarter’s Trust and Safety Team. We’re writing to let you know that a project you recently backed, Giggle - The Female App (Suspended), has been suspended. We also want to assure you that your AU$ 10.00 pledge has been canceled. To protect our community, we may suspend projects when they demonstrate one or more of the following:

Inappropriate content, including but not limited to explicit or pornographic material
Hateful or offensive content that fails to meet Kickstarter’s spirit of inclusivity by promoting discrimination, bigotry, or intolerance towards marginalized groups
As a result, all funding has been stopped and backers will not be charged for their pledges. No further action is required on your part.

We take the integrity of the Kickstarter system very seriously. We only suspend projects when we find strong evidence that they are misrepresenting themselves or otherwise violating the letter or spirit of Kickstarter's rules. As a policy, we do not offer comment on project suspensions beyond what is stated in this message.

We know this isn’t ideal. But we do sincerely hope to see you again soon, backing one or more of the amazing projects that do cross the finish line, without a hitch, each and every day.

Here’s to next time,
Kickstarter Trust and Safety

🤬🤬🤬

Oh FFS. I assumed that would happen though. Why aren't women allowed any spaces of their own?

So ridiculous. I will never support anything on Kickstarter again and hope they go bust.

Since women are a protected group isn’t this discriminatory in itself?

@WorkingItOutAsIGo

Since women are a protected group isn’t this discriminatory in itself?

If it is a US based platform, then probably other forms of legislation applies? I don't know how individuals / businesses can challenge global platforms like Kickstarter on discrimination.

Wasn't someone on another thread just saying "you can build a woman only app if you want one"?

Perhaps they'd like to weigh in on this.

Ova just beat me to it. Apparently this never happens.

But... But.... I thought no one is stopping anyone choosing who they sleep with.

I thought of course people can choose exactly who they want to date.

I thought there is nothing stopping women making a dating app that is just for biological women if they want to.

That's bloody disgraceful

File this under 'Of course you're free to have your spaces/boundaries/sexuality but we will stop you saying or doing anything about it'

Also known as 'Your only option is to submit'

Rainbows! Sparkles! Love! Inclusive!

My fuckin' arse.

Hopefully they will improve it by using the word women throughout the app instead of girls when they get the funding.

Have a read through this thread…

All is not what it seems…

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3982978-Giggle-app-for-girls-only

@Passmeamenuatthetottenham

But... But.... I thought no one is stopping anyone choosing who they sleep with.

I thought of course people can choose exactly who they want to date.

I thought there is nothing stopping women making a dating app that is just for biological women if they want to.

Nothing stopped them, the app is and working. They wanted to expand, needed more money and kickstarter turned them down. There are other ways to raise money to expand your business, or get a bank loan.

why did kick starter turn them down though?

So a female only app, aiming to expand to include a dating section in response to females losing access to other female only dating apps, is rejected from crowdfunding attempts and poster are quite ok with this discrimination against the app’s owners?

The double standards just continue to come out. That an app exclusively for females should be having restricted access to funding options compared to other apps seems to me to be like we have wound the calendar back decades. It is abhorrent to think females are not allowed to set their boundaries, but it is just as chilling to see people handwave this away while still self describing as feminists.

[quote SW1amp]Have a read through this thread…

All is not what it seems…

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3982978-Giggle-app-for-girls-only[/quote]
?

Nothing stopped them, the app is and working. They wanted to expand, needed more money and kickstarter turned them down. There are other ways to raise money to expand your business, or get a bank loan.

What is your point? There are plenty of start ups raising funds to expand their business on kickstarter. It's one of the options along with getting a bank loan.

[quote SW1amp]Have a read through this thread…

All is not what it seems…

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3982978-Giggle-app-for-girls-only[/quote]
What is not what it seems? You're going to have to spell this out, I'm afraid. Giggle has been quite open about who they are. That thread doesn't shed any new light.

Giggle is unapologetically a space for women and girls. Is that what you have a problem with? Or is it something else? Specifics would be appreciated.

There are other ways to raise money to expand your business, or get a bank loan.

So the Equality Act, banning discrimination by individuals towards various protected groups was unnecessary, I guess?

If a company chooses not to serve particular types of customer, like lesbians, that's not an issue, because there are other companies who would?

What is not what it seems? You're going to have to spell this out, I'm afraid. Giggle has been quite open about who they are. That thread doesn't shed any new light.

Perhaps they didn't read the whole thread

There have been various debate threads about how "women-only" Giggle is in the past, before that one. Maybe PP was thinking of one of those other threads. There has been some confusion because it originally was transwomen-inclusive.

Then they realised the problem that was causing - with not being able to be a properly women-centred space with males demanding attention. Also the accusations of "transphobia" when they tried to address the problems males were causing without an outright ban.

I recall discussions with Sal Grover in Reddit's r/GenderCritical while she was trying to figure out how to deal with this.

She is now quite vocally GC, even though she wasn't originally, and she's obviously trying to capitalise on the situation - when accused of transphobia, lean into it and be unapologetically female-only. Market on that basis - particularly to the GC crowd.

Women who peak must be punished.

sallceo.medium.com/i-guess-im-a-terf-then-a8e483ef9c06

@NecessaryScene

There are other ways to raise money to expand your business, or get a bank loan.

So the Equality Act, banning discrimination by individuals towards various protected groups was unnecessary, I guess?

If a company chooses not to serve particular types of customer, like lesbians, that's not an issue, because there are other companies who would?

As I understand it the Equality act it allows for exclusion on a case by case basis. So if you were providing a service for, say, gay men, then it would be possible to exclude lesbians from that service.

However if you run a hotel open to the general public then there isn’t provision in the equality act to exclude lesbians.

Also case by case means the situation as a whole. So you review the case for having a service for gay men that excludes lesbians.
It does not mean you review it every time an individual wants to access the service which I think is how a lot of business interpret it (and then assume it is too complicated).