Online ticketing site Eventbrite has been accused of double standards for banning a prominent women’s rights activist from the platform while pro-Hamas activists spread their message.
Eventbrite stoked the controversy this week by banning Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, from advertising her event about stopping male-to-female trans athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Gaines urged her supporters to boycott Eventbrite and received vocal support from Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who denounced the San Francisco-based tech company’s “crazy policies.”
Cruz and others noted how Eventbrite had banned Gaines while allowing hardcore leftists to promote their events, including “pro-Hamas rallies” that presented the armed Islamists as “resistance fighters.”
Riley Gaines’ college appearances are a lightning rod for transgender rights activists
Eventbrite has been accused of denying freedom of speech to conservatives while giving militant leftists free rein
Eventbrite told DailyMail.com that it is removing event listings that promote “discrimination and hatred.”
Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, a campaign group, slammed the tech company for “pursuing a radical, biased agenda rather than acting in the best interests of its customers.”
Will Hild accuses Eventbrite of ‘pointless behavior’
“What does it say about Eventbrite’s corporate values that they would choose to cut a female athlete for championing women’s rights in sports… but that doing so would facilitate support for Hamas, a terrorist organization that just killed thousands of civilians?” Hilde asked.
Gaines revealed Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, that Eventbrite had stopped promoting her upcoming event, called “Protecting Women’s Sports.”
Gaines, who was famously knocked out of a major swimming meet by male-female athlete Lia Thomas in 2022, is speaking out strongly against allowing trans athletes to “replace” women in sports.
As such, she has become a leading voice in the fractious debate over transgender rights, and a target for trans activists, who believe athletes should compete in sports as the gender with which they identify.
Her speech on the campus of Penn State University earlier this month was the latest to spark protests and clashes among the crowd.
Gaines posted Eventbrite’s message on social media
Gaines posted Eventrbite’s reason for dropping the event listing, part of her current college speaking tour.
‘We do not allow content or events that…discriminate against, harass, defame, threaten, incite violence or otherwise target individuals or groups based on their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, religion , national origin, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran status, age, or disability,” the report said.
The statement also warned Gaines that becoming a repeat offender could lead to the “suspension or termination” of her account.
Gaines slammed Eventbrite for not letting her express her opinion.
“Newsflash: Being a woman and advocating for it is not a hate crime,” Gaines wrote.
She praised her supporters for deleting their Eventbrite accounts and urged others to follow suit.
“Give them the Bud Light treatment,” she wrote, referencing a previous boycott against the beer company for promoting a trans influencer.
Texas Republican Ted Cruz came out swinging for Riley Gaines
Hamas Islamists have some fans in the West, despite the October 7 atrocities in southern Israel
Cruz, a socially conservative Republican, endorsed Gaines on X.
“Americans need to stop giving money to woke companies that hate them,” Cruz said.
“Eventbrite’s idiotic policy allows pro-Hamas demonstrations but bans people who hold radical beliefs that women exist.”
Consumers’ Research noted that Eventbrite had restricted Gaines and allowed supporters of the Gaza-based extremists to organize on the platform.
It highlighted an Eventbrite listing for a pro-Hamas rally, in the wake of the group’s murderous rampage through southern Israel on October 7.
The list, from the New York-based Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, describes the militants who have killed and captured hundreds of people, mostly civilians, as “Palestinian resistance fighters.”
The event listing, which can no longer be found on the platform, says the fighters “broke through Israel’s siege of Gaza” but makes no mention of their massacres of a music festival and kibbutzim across the border.
Eventbrite said in a statement that it is “committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful marketplace.”
“We remove events that we determine violate our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service,” the statement said.
“This includes discrimination and hatred.”