It’s another day on the World Wide Web! And who is our Trans Twitter main character today, you ask? Well, to everyone’s surprise, it’s filmmaker Anna Biller, who you may remember from 2016’s The Love Witch.

Even if you love the film, it comes as a bit of a shock (sort of) to learn that Biller has some longstanding TERF tendencies. And today, those leaped out on Twitter after the director started talking about how the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s was real–contrary to popular belief and established research. 

The tweet in question:

“Manhunt” author Gretchen Felker-Martin entered the chat to offer some explanation. 

So what does this have to do with TERFs and transness? Well, let me explain. Remember earlier this year, when Jordan Peterson came on Joe Rogan’s show to talk about how gender-affirming care is kind of like “satanic ritual abuse?” Well, it’s notable that such alleged abuse didn’t actually happen–kind of like how the claims of supportive parents “grooming” and “abusing” their children by helping them transition is also not really abuse. 

Even if you know nothing about Satanic Panic and its origins, you’ve probably at least watched “Stranger Things.” Though apparently Anna Biller hasn’t.  

It is surprisingly easy to debunk the myth of Satanic Panic. While the McMartin preschool trial spanned seven years and remains one of the most expensive criminal trials in U.S. history, it resulted in zero convictions and zero uncoverings of secret Satanic abuse rings. 

So why is Biller insisting that this stuff was real? Well, because she seems to believe a lot of fake stuff is real. Including the common TERF myth that if you say the word “woman,” Michael Palin will appear in his Spanish Inquisition costume and start tasing you.

In the past, Biller has said some pretty offensive stuff about trans and nonbinary folks.

 

And trans people? We stay laughing.

 

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