As Xtra reported last week, a Calgary trans
man was banned from Facebook after he uploaded post-op chest pics. Following a
web activism campaign — including a 5,000+ member Facebook group, Xtra’s continued coverage and lots of angry tweets — Facebook backtracked and
said that Dominic Scaia is free to upload his post-op chest pics.
The story has already made waves on some
queer blogs, including Queerty and Bilerico. Now German gay TV channel TIMM has picked up on it. Watch the
Jan 19 clip on this site, starting around the 3:40 minute mark. Sorry, it won’t let us embed! Can anyone translate?
(hat-tip to @UnionSt,
who tweeted the German TV link but noted that there has been “nothing about Dominic on any
of the tech or [social media] sites that obsessively follow anything related to
the [Facebook] Terms of Service. Odd.”) Here’s looking at you, Mashable!
UPDATE – Jan 20, 11am: Kirsten Handke at TIMM sent us a translation – thanks! Here it is:
“A trans man from Canada has prevailed against Facebook. The social network had deleted the young man’s account after he posted a topless photo of himself. It shoes Dominic Scaia after surgery he had to remove his breasts. Facebook deleted the photo after a user had filed a complaint, making reference to user guidelines, and noting that the photo was offensive. The young man expostulated and also founded the Facebook initiative “Stop Transphobia on Facebook: Un-ban Dominic Scaia,” which currently boasts a membership of over 8,000. Facebook finally caved; Dominic has a profile again, including the controversial post-op photo and many others. Dominic said to TIMM TODAY: ‘I am very happy about their retraction; my battle wasn’t just about me but rather for all trans men, many of which are on Facebook. Something like this cannot happen again.’”