This was in an article in the Stage today. I don't remember this thread, and I've done several advanced searches and can't see any mention at all of this person in the past year even.
Is this a complete lie?
I've copied and pasted the full text of the article below, and will also post a screenshot.
Horrific’ transphobic abuse on the rise, theatremakers warnNEWSSEP 29, 2023BY GIVERNY MASSO
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Tigger Blaize, EM Williams and Tabby Lamb. Photo: Rocco Redondo Photography
Creatives have warned that "horrific" online transphobic abuse of theatremakers is on the rise, claiming abusers are threatening physical violence and putting them on ’watch lists’.
The theatremakers said that while transphobia was a societal rather than specifically a theatre issue, theatremakers and performers were often a target because they were more visible on social media.
Actor, intimacy co-ordinator and LGBT+ consultant Tigger Blaize said there had been a rise in online abuse over the past 14 months, while others outlined recent incidents of experiencing harassment on social media.
Blaize told The Stage: "Online transphobic abuse is getting worse for trans and gender nonconforming people in many ways, and that includes workers, and some of those workers will be performers.
"I have noticed a rise in it particularly over the last 14 months, beginning last summer with a sudden awareness of the drag story hour protests outside libraries by the far right."
Blaize suggested the increase in abuse had been fuelled by a "hostile mainstream media that spreads lies and misinformation about trans people" and a right-wing government "which appears to be trying to roll back our human rights" as well as "social media companies who refuse to tackle accounts that repeatedly attack marginalised groups".
He said: "It’s clear that the impact [of abuse] on performers’ working lives as well as their lives outside the workplace is hugely detrimental to their mental health, and in some cases their physical well-being."
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Blaize, who is also the vice chair of Equity’s LGBT+ committee, added: "Two artists I know have been threatened with acid attacks, and both have had to move house, both have a direct link to the police in the event of threats of attack."
Actor, poet and movement director EM Williams described transphobic online abuse as a "really big" issue.
They said: "Trans femmes are getting it the worst for sure. They are scapegoated for being ‘cosplaying men who are there to harass women’, which is obviously putting the focus on the wrong person and wrong demographic again.
"Because it’s cis male violence that they’re talking about, but for some reason they’ve included trans women in that, and it’s absolutely wild to me."
Williams also told The Stage of being subject to online abuse when they posted on social media in support of a show that was receiving criticism: "I put a post out – something along the lines of: ‘Why do we want our children to live in shame of their bodies?’ – and I got hounded and had to delete that.
"I wasn’t able to express my free speech on what I felt around an issue that is completely unrelated to me being trans, but they made it about me being trans."
Williams said that people contacted their agent, threatened to come to the theatre they were performing at and find them, and put them on a "watch list".
As a result, Williams had been forced to "[think] a lot more about what [they] put on the internet".
Williams added that online abuse such as this was a factor contributing to mental health issues and higher suicide rates among trans and queer people.
Meanwhile, writer and performer Tabby Lamb said: "I think it’s horrific. It’s one of the things that I have to consider a lot when making work. I would say it’s probably one of the main reasons I don’t act anymore."
Lamb also recalled the transphobic abuse she had experienced, adding: "I’ve had shows that have been protested, we’ve had TERFs [trans-exclusionary radical feminists] book tickets and turn up and start booing and screaming.
"Online, literally last week, I was one of the top trending topics on Mumsnet [...] and I had thousands, literally thousands of people in my [messages] calling me a paedophile and an abuser, because I’m making a show with young people about swimming as a trans person."
Lamb added that the abuse was "so much worse" for trans people of colour.
She also agreed that a rise in such abuse had been fuelled by what she described as "a government that hates trans people".
Mike Lee, executive producer for theatre company Hive North, said that a cast member on the company’s upcoming show – Jock Night at Seven Dials Playhouse – had received online abuse simply for being a vocal trans ally.
The cast member, David Paisley, had been targeted on social media after a cast announcement went out.
Lee said that the venue had "been really good" and had undergone scenario planning to ensure the show goes ahead.
In terms of what theatre companies can be doing to support transgender and gender nonconfirming artists, Blaize called for them to stand by decisions to cast trans performers and performers who speak out publicly, to cast authentically in all roles of marginalised identity and to provide trans awareness training for companies and venue staff.
Lamb and Williams both urged theatre companies to ensure safe transport to and from venues for company members who are at risk, while Lamb also called for therapy and emotional support to be provided to transgender company members.