AUSTIN, Texas — Independent Women’s Network (IWN) issued the following statement after Eventbrite banned an event page, called “Let Women Speak Austin.” Eventbrite deemed the IWN sponsored event against community guidelines for perpetuating “hateful, dangerous, or violent content.” In fact, the event was planned to give women the opportunity to share their opinions and lived experiences, and to advocate for women’s rights and sex-based protections.

The email from Eventbrite Trust & Safety reads as follows:

We have determined that your event is not permitted on the Eventbrite platform as it violates our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, specifically our policy on Hateful, Dangerous, or Violent Content and Events. As a result, your event has been unpublished. Please be aware that severe or repeated violations of our guidelines may result in the suspension or termination of your Eventbrite account.

Independent Women’s Network’s Austin Chapter Leader, Michelle Evans, said in response to Eventbrite banning this event page: “Eventbrite’s team of Trust and Safety experts politely communicated to me that they were capitulating to the trans ideologues, the loud minority who are perpetually offended by women speaking out against their intrusion into our sports and private spaces. A simple demand — Let Women Speak — has been intentionally misrepresented by Eventbrite as hate speech. The idea of adult human females gathering in the public square to openly discuss sex-based rights has been deemed by the ticketing platform to be a danger to society and worthy of cancellation.”

Evans added, “Hear this, Eventbrite: women will not be silenced. The event will go on as scheduled and the crowd of women ready to give a public record of their dissent grows with every retweet about the deplatforming.”

“It is disgusting that platforms like Eventbrite, which was founded by a woman who serves as its CEO, are smearing women, including sexual assault survivors, sharing their concerns about the loss of safe spaces as involved in ‘hate speech’. This assault on women — on female prisoners, athletes, sexual assault victims — is what is hateful. Eventbrite’s actions and lack of response is the epitome of cancel culture, and showcases bigotry and hatred towards women. Independent Women’s Network is dedicated to standing up for women’s rights and for free speech across the board. This censorship must end,” said Carrie Lukas, president at Independent Women’s Forum.

Independent Women’s Network is the national grassroots community activist arm of Independent Women’s Voice (IWV). IWN was created to build a supportive community for women and to give them the tools they need to make a positive difference in their neighborhoods and our country. IWN has 23 chapters around the country and an online community of more than 32,000 IWN members.

Eventbrite, co-founded by female CEO Julia Hartz, has claimed to celebrate and empower women in the past, and bills itself as a platform “that allows anyone to create, share, find and attend events that fuel their passions.” She has made comments, like, “Let’s keep celebrating women. In this curated collection, @Eventbrite’s experts showcase virtual events made for anyone to learn, celebrate, inspire change, and empower women everywhere. #WomensHistoryMonth.”

Such a platform should be in line with the mission of IWN and Evan’s “Let Women Speak Austin” event, which will allow mothers and community members to come together in defense of sex-based protections. Instead, the company has now silenced women by shutting down an event post intended to raise awareness about the harmful effects of gender ideology — the same ideology which has caused Eventbrite to contribute to the erasure of women.

Independent Women’s Network has written a letter to Eventbrite on free speech and women’s right to stand up for our opportunities, spaces, and dignity. The letter can be read HERE.

Independent Women’s Network, a project of Independent Women’s Voice, in partnership with Independent Women’s Forum, is a positive, supportive community of engaged, informed, and activated women working together to inspire, interact, influence, and have impact.