Banned for Satire: When a Trans Woman Breaks the Rules by Existing Too Loudly

Hello, beautiful readers!

This week, I was banned from going Live on TikTok. The charge? Transphobia.

The accused? Me. A trans woman.

I appealed. It was denied.

Let that sink in: a trans woman was banned from TikTok for supposedly being transphobic. I challenged the decision. They upheld it—no explanation, no context, no humanity. Just a cold, dismissive “no.”

The irony would be laughable if it weren’t so chilling.

As a trans artist, musician, and satirist, I often use humour—self-deprecating, cutting, dark—to survive the absurdity of a world obsessed with our erasure. When satire becomes the only language that makes sense, it’s a lifeline. A way to hold a mirror up to the hate we endure.

But on platforms like TikTok, satire by trans people is forbidden.

While bigots mock our identities freely, we are silenced for holding a mirror to the madness.

Hospital

### When the Joke’s on Us—We're the Ones Removed

Transphobes can misgender us, mock our bodies, and call us predators, and their content stays up. It thrives. It spreads.

But when I made a satirical comment—echoing the very words used against us to reveal their absurdity—it was flagged as hateful. The system didn’t ask who I was. It didn’t care. The algorithm saw the word “transphobic,” and that was enough to convict me.

No nuance. No irony. No context.

Just a faceless decision: "Guilty."

And when I appealed? Still guilty.

Not because a real human reviewed it, but because artificial intelligence doesn’t understand satire, identity, or trauma. It can’t distinguish harm from humour. It can’t tell the difference between a joke made at our expense and a joke made in our defence.

### A Warning to Every Trans Creator

This isn’t just about me. This is a warning shot to every trans person who dares to speak up, joke back, or fight fire with wit.

The message is clear: you are allowed to be silent. You are allowed to suffer. But you are not allowed to laugh about it.

Our existence must be fragile, trembling, and apologetic—or it will be punished.

Meanwhile, those who incite real harm—who turn our names into slurs and our lives into punchlines—go unchecked.

### The Real Danger

I received a "first warning", but let’s be honest: it’s not the first warning. It’s the thousandth. It’s the culmination of years of trying to navigate a system built to tolerate bigotry but allergic to resistance.

These bans aren’t harmless. They silence us at scale. They erase humour as a coping mechanism. They teach younger trans people that irony is dangerous and that truth must be whispered, not shouted.

This is digital censorship, cloaked in “community guidelines.”

### Where Do We Go From Here?

My name is Aeris Houlihan.

I’m a trans woman, a goth artist, a poet, and the mind behind Witch of the East.

And if my humour, my defiance, or my truth is too complex for the bots—too human for their guidelines—then perhaps the real problem isn’t me.

It’s the system that punishes the oppressed for surviving loudly.

### Join the Coven

To everyone who still believes trans voices matter—join me.

I’ll keep making noise, even if they try to mute me.

🕯 Unfiltered art, poetry, and protest:

www.aerishoulihan.com/join-the-coven

With love and gratitude,

Aeris Houlihan