Knitting and crocheting community Ravelry bans vocal Trump supporters

Ravelry, a wildly popular social media site for knitters and crocheters, is taking a stand against white supremacy, which includes supporters of Donald Trump and the Trump administration.

In an announcement made by Ravelry on Sunday, the site plainly states, "We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry." The new policy was set in the spirit of inclusiveness, and Ravelry states that allowing white supremacist rhetoric on the site goes against that spirit.

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The decision to no longer allow open support for Trump on the site was partially inspired by RPGnet's own decision to do the same in 2018. Ravelry points to RPGnet's post, which contains a long list of actions and statements by Trump and his administration that are racist, transphobic, ableist, violent, and otherwise abhorrent to those who run the site (as well as plenty of other people around the world).

Ravelry goes into detail about how the ban on Trump supporters affects the community and what kinds of content are bannable offenses. The site makes it clear that Trump supporters are free to use the site, but they can't use the site to spread their ideas.

"This includes support in the form of forum posts, projects, patterns, profiles, and all other content," the site states. "We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy."

Ravelry makes a clear distinction that this is not about banning Republican or conservative ideas, but rather banning hate groups and intolerance. The site also notes that users are not permitted to antagonize conservatives or goad Trump supporters into vocalizing their support.

Ravelry's stance is strong, but it's not exactly difficult to see why they made it. As the president and his administration have rolled back LGBTQ rights, incarcerated refugees without basic necessities at the southern border, and encouraged violence against his opposition, supporters of his actions and presidency are implicitly endorsing the things he says and does to the direct detriment of millions of oppressed people in the U.S. and around the globe.

When Trump refers to violent white supremacists as "very fine people," supporting him is no longer about picking a political side, it's about endorsing violent white supremacy, and Ravelry isn't allowing that to happen on its watch anymore.