Rep. Marie Newman (D-Illinois) says Facebook removed a video from her page that showed her placing a transgender pride flag outside of her office, citing hate speech.
The video, which appears to have been restored to her Facebook page as of noon ET on Thursday, was posted by Newman in response to comments made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), in voting against the Equality Act.
Facebook apologized to Newman for removing her video on Thursday.
“Congresswoman, this plainly should not have happened. We've restored this content and you have our sincere apologies,” Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in response to Newman in a tweet Thursday.
The video shows Newman putting up the flag outside of her office — which sits directly across the hall from Taylor Greene’s office.
“Our neighbor,Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, tried to block the Equality Act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is ‘disgusting, immoral, and evil.’ Thought we’d put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door," Newman wrote in her Facebook caption.
Newman said early Thursday morning that Facebook temporarily removed her video and labeled it “hate speech.” She later said that Facebook told her the video had been “removed in error” and that it was reviewing the case.
“Supporting transgender Americans is NOT hate speech,” Newman wrote.
Facebook took down our video of me putting up the Transgender flag outside my office and labeled it as “hate speech.”
— Congresswoman Marie Newman (@RepMarieNewman) February 25, 2021
Meanwhile, they’re still allowing Marjorie Taylor Greene’s transphobic video to be posted.
Supporting transgender Americans is NOT hate speech. pic.twitter.com/dU2eXUpZSy
Taylor Greene’s response video that showed her hanging a sign outside of her office that read, “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. ‘Trust the science!’” was not flagged for hate speech.
Taylor Greene’s actions prompted rebuke from both Republicans and Democrats. The freshman congresswoman has already been removed from her committee assignments during her short time in office due to her conspiratorial views on the 2020 election and other topics.
Taylor Greene hung the sign outside of her office just days after Newman rose in support of the Equality Act — a bill that would extend civil rights protections to people on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. During her comments on the House floor, Newman spoke about her transgender daughter, saying she was "immensely proud of her.”
