The popular knitting website Ravelry has banned users from sharing posts expressing support for President Trump, saying support for the administration is “undeniably support for white supremacy.”
“We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry,” said a Sunday statement posted on the site for knitters and crocheters, which boasts more than 8 million users. “This includes support in the form of forum posts, projects, patterns, profiles, and all other content.”
“We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy,” the statement added. “Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy.”
Raverly is the most popular online forum for knitting fans, and has millions of users.
The post on the Ravelry site noted that users will have access to their data even if they or their projects are removed from the website.
It also specified that people who support Trump are welcome to use Ravelry as long as they do not express that support on the website.
“We are definitely not banning conservative politics,” the statement said. “Hate groups and intolerance are different from other types of political positions.”
According to its website, Ravelry is “a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration.”
Vox, early this year, wrote about efforts to combat racism in the knitting community.
“Hundreds of people of color have shared stories of being ignored in knitting stores, having white knitters assume they were poor or complete amateurs, or flat-out saying they didn’t think black or Asian people knit,” the Vox piece said.
Raverly, which has been around since 2007 and is headquartered in Boston, both allows users to sell their projects, and to interact with others who enjoy knitting and crocheting.