Elon Musk Says 'Cis' And 'Cisgender' Are Now Considered Slurs On Twitter, Triggering Heated Viral Debates

Elon Musk declared on Twitter today that the terms "Cis" and "Cisgender" are now considered "slurs" on Twitter and their use could be punishable by suspension.

In the tweet where he stated this, Musk was responding to the user @JamesEsses, a cisgender man who posted that he did not want to be called "cis" and was then inundated with replies saying he was "cis."

"Cis" and "Cisgender" are terms used to describe non-trans people and are not considered slurs by many organizations, though some conservatives have attempted to declare it one.

Musk has made no secret of his distaste for gender identity labels, once sparking an apparent argument with his ex-girlfriend Grimes after he tweeted his dislike of pronouns and later bizarrely tweeting "I'm not cis, you are" in an attempt to retort a cis man who was explaining why some cis people are forthcoming with their preferred pronouns.

Musk's decision to label these terms as slurs outraged many Twitter users, some of who believe it continues Musk's pattern of perceivably pandering toward bigots and transphobes on the platform, while others celebrated the move.

It is unclear if Musk can enforce a ban on the words "cis" and "cisgender" on Twitter, particularly because the site has reportedly been slow to stem the rise of actual slurs, which began appearing much more frequently on Twitter after Musk's takeover late last year.