AFTAH’s LaBarbera Appeals Twitter Suspension

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Update: Twitter reinstated LaBarbera’s account on Friday, Sept. 24.

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I sent the following letter 9-22-21 to appeal Twitter’s suspension of my account on Sept. 21, 2021. My Twitter page, now listing me with zero followers, can be found at: twitter.com/PeterLaBarbera.–Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth

I am appealing my suspension (9-21-21) for alleged “hateful conduct.” On 9-20, I sent out an innocuous and accurate tweet pointing out that it is radical, Sharia-enforcing Muslims (in Islamic states) that are killing homosexuals, not Christians. This was in reply to a sardonic tweet urging me to go to a country with “Sharia Law and stuff,” because I oppose homosexuality as immoral. The sad truth is that although Christians are often falsely accused of “hate” towards homosexuals because of their biblical and moral beliefs, it is fundamentalist Islamic states like Iran where homosexuals have suffered under the most draconian punishments, including death by hanging and stoning.

I refer you to Pages 5 and 56-58 in the U.S. State Department’s 2020 Human Rights report on Iran (https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IRAN-2020-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf), which documents that the death penalty and other severe punishments have been carried out against homosexuals, and justified by Iran’s foreign minister.

My tweet in no way “promoted violence” or hatred against homosexuals. In fact, I was simply pointing to the irony that while American Christians are often demonized for alleged cruelty towards gays, actual violence in the form of harsh punishments against homosexuals actually occurs in hardline Islamic states.

I appeal this unjust suspension and ask you to restore my account in good standing. I challenge you to view my Twitter feed, where I routinely engage civilly with LGBTQ-identified critics like [LGBTQ writer and activist] Dan Savage (@fakedansavage). Even though they strongly disagree with me on sexual morality, we are able to dialogue back-and-forth, even poking fun at one another. I thought that was the original vision of Jack Dorsey and Twitter. Thank you for considering this appeal.–@PeterLaBarbera