Twitter suspended Rep. Banks' official account for calling trans official Rachel Levine a 'man'

Banks: Calling someone born male, who live as such for 54 years first 'female' four-star officer 'insult to every little girl who dreams of breaking glass ceilings'

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a Navy Reserve officer who served in Afghanistan, speaks during a news conference to discuss the U.S. military withdrawal from the country, with members fo the House Republican Conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, August 24, 2021.

By Sophie Mann

GOP Rep. Jim Banks' official Twitter was suspended after he called Rachel Levine, top U.S. military health official and a transgender woman, a "man."

The Indiana lawmaker said tweeted the "statement of fact" the same day Levine was sworn in an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Banks subsequently tweeted, "The title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man."

The account was then suspended for violating Twitter's hateful conduct policy, which bars "targeted misgendering" of transgender people."

"Calling someone that was born and lived as a man for 54 years the first ‘female’ four-star officer is an insult to every little girl who dreams of breaking glass ceilings one day," Banks said.

He added, "Twitter has suspended my official account for posting a statement of FACT. I won’t back down. I’ll be posting on my personal account for the time being ... . Big Tech must be held accountable!"

In a statement to the Indianapolis Star, Banks said, "Big Tech doesn’t have to agree with me, but they shouldn’t be able to cancel me. If they silence me, they will silence you. We can’t allow Big Tech to prevent us from telling the truth. When Republican take back the House next year, we must restore honesty to our public forums and hold Big Tech accountable."