Assistant Literary Agent Fired After Transgender Activists Complain That Her Twitter Account Is “Transphobic”

The bio of the account made no reference to her employer.

Tweet by Sasha White stating she was fired for her feminist stance, overlaid on an open book with a pen.

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Sasha White, a former assistant agent at The Tobias Literary Agency, has been fired after some transgender activists complained about her Twitter account and claimed that it was “transphobic.”

White has two Twitter accounts – a main account, where she noted that she was employed by the Tobias Literary Agency, and an alternative account, where her bio made no reference to her employer.

Her alt-account bio states that “gender non conformity is wonderful; denying biological sex not so,” notes that White supports “radical feminism,” and contains the hashtag “#istandwithJKRowling” – a hashtag that is used to support the author’s defense of the concept of biological sex.

Twitter profile page for Sasha White, handle @iamGrushenka, featuring a bio with the hashtag #istandwithJKRowling.

White’s alt-account recently gained the attention of some trans activists on Twitter who accused White of being a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), claimed that she was using her alt-account to express “transphobic views,” and complained that she “doesn’t believe in honoring my pronouns.”

A tweet warning trans authors not to query literary agent Sasha White, calling her account transphobic and TERF.
Tweet criticizing literary agent Sasha White over pronouns, sharing screenshots of her profile and posts.

Within a day of the trans activists making their complaints known, White had been fired.

“I was fired last night for my feminist stance,” White tweeted. “The twitter mob came for me and my employer and my employer immediately terminated me.”

The Tobias Literary Agency confirmed the firing on Twitter and in an email to journalist Jesse Singal, Lane Heymont, the President of The Tobias Literary Agency, added that White was fired for not specifying her views are her own in her Twitter bio.

Tweet from The Tobias Literary Agency stating they have parted ways with assistant agent Sasha White over Twitter comments.

Heymont also attached screenshots of the tweets that caused the firing which included a retweet from the alt account that states: “TW [trans women], being vulnerable to male violence does not make you women.”

Email from Lane Heymont stating Sasha was let go because her Twitter views were not in line with the agency's beliefs.
Twitter profile of Sasha White with a bio reading Assistant Agent at The Tobias Agency.
Twitter profile of Sasha White with the hashtag istandwithJKRowling in her bio and retweeted posts about gender.

White is one of many social media users to be fired for expressing their opinions on social media.

Some of the many others who have been fired this year because of their social media posts include author Gillian Philip who was fired for supporting J.K. Rowling, an NBA photographer who was fired after posting a meme featuring Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and an assistant coach being fired without a hearing after Black Lives Matter Facebook comments.

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