21/06/2024
LGBTQIA Newswire Them.us reports that internet users have had fun with an anti-transgender report form that was launched by the Republican controlled state of Utah. Sociologists have noted for decades that LGBT+ people are among the first adopters of new technology, and many people used their knowledge to flood the anti-transgender reporting website, chillingly titled as "Distinctions on the Basis of Sex", with spam. Them.us go on to say "The form, unveiled this week via the Utah State Auditor’s office, comes three months after Republican Gov. Spender Cox signed HB 257 into law, legally redefining “biological sex” according to a person’s reproductive organs and strictly dividing bathrooms on government-controlled property by that definition. A trans person using a facility that does not match their assigned sex at birth could be fined up to $1,000 and spend six months in jail for alleged “voyeurism” and/or criminal trespass.... Of course, extremely online individuals descended upon the much-derided “snitch” form almost immediately, uploading batches of irrelevant text and files — especially memes — for investigators to enjoy. This mass trolling apparently caused the form to crash on Thursday.... It’s not clear exactly what Utah conservatives expected to happen when they rolled out a tattletale form with looser security than a white-collar prison. Trolling the surveillance state through its own apparatus is almost as old as surveillance itself, and has become the default response when Republicans unveil such programs. Similar “snitch” forms targeting LGBTQ+ people in Indiana and Mississippi over the past year have received similar treatment, while local officials have said such tools aren’t effective or properly vetted."
