Reddit bans transphobic 'SuperStraight' subreddit for 'promoting hate'

• The SuperStraight subreddit has been banned just nine days after it was created.
• "The community had become increasingly exclusionary with hateful content," Reddit said.
• The subreddit was dedicated to pushing the idea that there is a sexual orientation that inherently excludes interest in trans people.

Reddit banned the SuperStraight Reddit page Tuesday night, which promoted a new transphobic movement revolving around a claimed sexual identity that had its origins in explicity dividing LGBTQ people. The page that used to house the subreddit now features a picture of a gavel and a note from Reddit saying it was banned "for promoting hate towards a marginalized or vulnerable group."

"The community had become increasingly exclusionary with hateful content that is counter to its original satirical intent and was in violation of our policies," the page reads.

The subreddit dedicated to the "super straight" sexual identity was created on March 1 and gained nearly 30,000 subscribers before it was terminated.

Other offshoot subreddits, including Super_Lesbian, supersexuals, and superstraights, were banned for "creating or repurposing a sub to reconstitute or serve the same objective as a previously banned or quarantined subreddit," according to notes on those now-defunct Reddit pages.

Urban Dictionary defines "super straight" as a person "who only dates or find the opposite sex attractive only if they were biologically born that gender."

The term was created on TikTok by the user KyleRoyce in late February. The video was removed by TikTok, but it was uploaded to YouTube and found its way to fringe message board 4chan before the subreddit's creation. On 4chan, users were vocal about pushing the "super straight" idea as an explicit troll to divide the LGBTQ community.

In an interview with Insider, the TikTok creator said the video "was never meant to be hateful towards anyone," though in the video itself he admitted to making up the label because he was tired of being called transphobic.

Those who claim to be "super straight" say it is an orientation, despite it being a clear preference.

Reddit's ban of the transphobic group was quickly applauded by progressive and trans communities on the platform, including the subreddits AgainstHateSubreddits and traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns.

Those who condemn the identity have been labeled "superphobes" by those identifying as "super straight" in an attempt to counter the criticism.

Before its ban, a GoFundMe for "Vancouver Rape Relief," Canada's longest-running rape crisis center, was promoted by members of the SuperStraight subreddit and pinned to the top of the page by its moderators. The GoFundMe, which has raised nearly $7,000 as of Wednesday afternoon, has been being lauded by those who identify as "super straight."

But the center has received criticism and backlash for its policy of accepting only "female-born women," losing its city funding in 2019 because it refused to alter that rule, which excludes trans women.

The subreddit was full of anti-trans sentiment and offensive language before it was booted from the social media platform. Many commenters appeared to make fun of trans people, who are frequent victims of discrimination and fatal violence. "Did you know, superstraights are the most common victims of rape and sexual abuse?" wrote one commenter. "I wasn't accepted anywhere else bc of my Sexuality (SS), they called me Transphobic and whatnot! IT'S JUST THE WAY I WAS BORN OK" wrote another.

Reddit's content policy states that "communities and users that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned."