A literary agent in New York was ousted from her job after she tweeted that transgender males who identity as females are not biologically females.
Sasha White, an assistant with the Tobias Literary Agency, which has offices in Boston, Nashville, and New York, was fired from her job after she retweeted a comment that read, “TW [transgender women] being vulnerable to male violence does not make you women,” according to a report from the Daily Mail.
TLA acknowledged via Twitter it had fired White.
“We do not have any room for anti-trans sentiments at TLA. Period,” wrote the agency in a since-deleted tweet. “Thus we have parted ways with Sasha.”
When writer Jesse Singal reached out to Lane Heymont, the head of TLA, he told him the problem was White didn’t include “disclaimer language” in her Twitter bio, indicating that the opinions she posted were her own, and not representative of the agency.
“Thus suggesting it was perceived she was speaking on behalf of the agency and those views are not in line with our beliefs,” Heymont explained. “Therefore, we had to part ways.”
Following White’s ouster, the hashtag #IStandWithSashaWhite began trending on Twitter, as supporters came to the former TLA staffer’s defense just as they did when “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling sparked controversy for saying an individual’s sex is unchangeable.
White, for her part, spoke out about the firing last week. In a tweet of her own, she wrote, “It’s true: I was fired last night for my feminist stance.” Following a barrage of attacks from “the Twitter mob,” White said her employer “immediately terminated me.”
In a follow-up tweet posted Wednesday, White said she does “believe in trans rights” and “support[s]” the transgender community. She added, though, that she also “believe[s] that biology is real and that 2+2=4.”
“I wholeheartedly condemn prejudice, discrimination, bullying, and violence,” she added.