I've been sent some information, and given that the allegations against Tara are very serious, I would like to start with a pattern of behavior rather than the accusations themselves.
Consent
"Against CC, Against Free Love: Toward a Dangerous Freedom" is an essay written by Tara and posted here. I'm only going to show an excerpt, but please read it for full context.
The legitimacy of Tara's claims here rest entirely on her use of hyperbole to make consent out to be something no one expects of it. Literal "documentation", "checklists", etc. are ridiculous claims on their face, which I'm sure is obvious to Tara as well. The purpose served by the exaggeration is making "consent culture" appear ridiculous, cumbersome, inhibiting to "intimacy", and therefor reasonably optional.
The highlighted claim is essentially "consent offers safety but removes passion" for those who don't speak faux intellectual. I don't have any interest in kinkshaming people, this is not framed as a statement on kink, it's framed as broadly applying to "intimacy" as a whole- so just all forms of sex. Decrying the practice of consent as a whole is pretty alarming.
The claim could be made that this statement is about kink, and forms of consensual non-consent. Even if this was the case (kink is not mentioned once in the entire essay) then it's also at best a complete misrepresentation, and at worse willfully removing the things that make cnc ultimately consensual. Cnc still requires consent via prior agreement (no, not necessarily signed, Tara) and safewords. Without these it is rape. Tara's statement on consent makes no room for such things. It makes no room for consent as a whole. What kind of person would advocate against consent?
Sexual Assault
Some of you might have already heard of the "social contract" Tara and other influencers signed. For those who are unaware, this "contract" (post containing the full thing linked here) contains agreements to never call out trans women publicly for any reason, never misgender them (obvious and cool rule), and controversially, never publicly accuse any trans woman of sexual assault.
Two people who will be notable later signed this contract as well: Eve (basedtransgirl) and Emily (ts_emilystone)
The first and third rule are predicated on the fact that talking privately is less harmful to people's reputations, and doesn't reinforce transphobic narratives.
I would like to note that trans woman aren't targeted because of any legitimate harm on their parts. To imply that there is any extent to which protecting the reputation of the community by holding it above the wants and needs of survivors will ever make trans woman safe, is ridiculous on account of trans woman not having to do anything to invoke the rights' abuse. In a world where no trans woman has ever done anything wrong, there would still be transphobes, because transphobia isn't trans people's fault.
The third rule does acknowledge the pain of being a survivor of violence from one within your own community, but this is immediately dismissed as irrelevant in the face of the community's reputation as a whole. I'm all for non-carceral justice, but notably this rule isn't just against taking someone to court, it's against publicly acknowledging they assaulted and/or raped you at all. If the argument then is that public shaming or even harassment is equivalent to the carceral state, I'm going to call bullshit.
The alternatives suggested are as vague as they are buzzwords. "Community preservation" seems to imply that survivors speaking out is damaging to the community, as opposed to an effort to protect it from rapists. "Healing" means nothing in the context of a demand for survivors to silently allow their abusers to go on finding victims. Even if one were to handle all of these things privately, even if everyone connected to the perpetrator in question cuts them off, this is a document written by and for influencers. People with followers that do not have access to inside information without being told publicly- exactly what this rule forbids. This is a demand for rapists to be allowed to keep their platforms. What kind of person would sign off on a contract that protects rapists?
The Evidence
Now there are the allegations. Several people (and apparently more privately to ghettogothdoll and others) have come forward and accused Tara and her former (?) friends of hosting parties in which primarily trans women were drugged and/or coerced into sexual acts, which is rape. There are also accusations that specific people one or more members of this friend group found attractive were brought to these parties for that purpose- sex trafficking.
The most substantial evidence in my opinion are Tara's own words to a former friend, Bonnie (bunnymeat on insta), in conversations she posted snippets of herself, so we know the messages are real.
What Tara says here is basically that sexual violence was very possible at her parties through her own negligence, but that she doesn't know that it occurred. This contradicts what she says here:
Bonnie claims that "Eve directed it, you helped. She's more guilty, but you're guilty too." Tara then agrees "yes I helped and I'm guilty[...] that is abuse nonetheless." So was Tara innocently unaware of the sexual violence that went on at her parties, or did she not only know, but help and by her own admission is guilty of abuse? I don't find the defense of not being a "fully individualized actor" to mean anything other than Tara is running from what she participated in. She basically says "it wasn't just me doing it, I was doing it as part of a group" as if that makes it defensible.
The claim Tara has made in response to these screenshots is not that they are doctored, but that she was lying about being guilty.
I do not find this believable. What exactly would an admission of guilt get from bunnymeat? If the accusations are false, Tara telling her they aren't wouldn't get an admission of that falsehood. There is no reason to lie about her guilt.
Here is how Tara has spoken about these parties publicly:
Tara names the two people involved with the parties who also signed the contract (Eve and Emily). Eve was earlier named by bunnymeat as one of the perpetrators at the parties, and Tara never denies this, instead admitting that she "helped" Eve with the abuse. The fourth creator mentioned (Steph), is acknowledged by Tara to be a predator (Tara also goes on to say this person raped her, which I see no reason to disbelieve).
The narrative being spun publicly by Tara is that she has no knowledge of abuse at the parties, and that only Steph is actually guilty. But according to Tara in private, at least herself and Eve are guilty of abuse.
There is also the matter of how Tara has spoken about Bonnie publicly vs privately.
Here, Tara acknowledges that she "smeared" Bonnie, but says that she didn't rape anyone. However, she did admit to helping Eve with abuse at the parties (notably, "abuse" is the word Tara uses). Abuse of a sexual nature can certainly be rape, and is at least sexual assault. Bonnie then says "you smeared me for my rapists". This is referring to Tara's selectively cropped screenshots of the above messages, which Bonnie then posted these full versions of.
Here is a segment of the smears in question:
Privately, Tara acknowledges at least Eve's (based.transgirl) abuse and doesn't refute Emily's. After doing so she publicly characterizes Bonnie as a "blackmailer" in defense of Eve and Emily. These are what Tara admits in the previous screenshot are smears- lies. This shows what Tara is willing to do to protect rapists.
The reason I began this post with the essay on consent and the social contract, is because I believe they speak to Tara's character. What is the utility of making out consent to be a cumbersome and harmful practice? What is the utility of demanding silence from survivors of sexual violence? What do these actions mean when taken with private acknowledgements of abuse on your part? With "helping" a rapist do what they did? What does it mean when you admit to smearing a survivor of people you defended? No one who takes these actions should claim to be a transfeminist. No one who takes these actions should have a platform.
My request is not that anyone harass or dox Tara. That is in no way helpful. What would be helpful is to stop following her and her former cohort, inform people who don't know to do so as well, and move on from this as a safer community.
Refusing to inform the public of the abusive actions of prominent people is anti transfeminist, anti survivor, pro abuse and pro rape culture. It does not protect us from the right, it does not protect us from anyone. I will reiterate: they hate queer people anyway. We need to disempower them, not do fucking PR. There is no amount of communal purity that will satiate transphobes. Transphobia is not the fault of trans people. Trans genocide is not the fault of trans people. Survivors are not participating in "carceral justice" by speaking out. Fuck everyone who signed that "contract", I don't care how much of a "meme" they say it was.
Tara Knight thoroughly outed herself as a liar on her instagram, and was losing hundreds of followers every time she came out with a new lie. She seemingly ai generated a letter when the rag newsite The Needle asked her for comment, she claimed she sent them the letter on Bluesky, and then changed course on instagram saying she never sent it to them. I want to be clear that article by the needle was racist and am only really interested in the pdf of a letter and Tara’s own reaction to it.
She then made a public apology stating the fbi letter was a hoax, telling people to stop defending her for it. Then she posted a new letter on her announcements on her instagram, claiming that was the real letter, saying it was probably from a stalker. This letter was dated January 11th, while the original claim was made on January 6th. Additionally it had clearly never been folded like a piece of mail would be and contained none of the original threats, namely to cease publication of her book, and delete her writings on Substack. The response from her audience was disbelief, and was subsequently called out by her friend Rose161 for lying again. They had a public argument via their respective instagram stories, subsequently they both deleted all of these stories, and Tara deleted her latest claim of a new letter. She then finally took a break from instagram, and migrated to tumblr where she has been denying any accusation of lying, and painting herself as a victim of a hate mob. Most of the comments and replies I saw expressed frustration, confusion, and disappointment. Many people giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was sent a threatening letter, no matter how suspect her claims or behavior.
I followed her following the original claim of a threatening letter earlier this month. I had never heard of her before, but quickly muted her account finding something to be fishy but unable to put my finger on it. I’ve attached the letters below for reference, the first is the gen ai letter referenced by the needle, the second is her most recent claim, the third is one she sent privately to her own friends. I’ve also included her apology admitting to the threat being a hoax, and the closest thing to an explanation she has given.
Ultimately I think this destroys her credibility as a writer and voice within the community. She doesn’t deserve hate, certainly doesn’t deserve racism. Sending mean anons will only reinforce her victim mentality, and provides fuel for her blind followers to believe her more. However I think a public lie like this that she used to grift money from her own largely trans following is bad, and requires public awareness.
Reblogging to add some more stuff since she’s decided to try the same shtick over again today. I’ve included the personal testimony of three people who knew her personally before the fbi letter hoax ever happened. They rallied around her when she told them she was targeted, and they publicly boosted her story and defended her, until it became obvious to them for different reasons that she was lying.
Her former friend Rose, who defended her for weeks and posted about the letter originally.
Her auntie Erica has made several videos addressing this (highly recommend watching all of her instagram videos on the situation) but this one is a phone call between the two of them where Tara tells her to kill herself:
Ultimately, I don’t know her and neither do you. I know what she has said publicly online, and I know the way all of her comments and posts contradict themselves. She’s tangled in a web of lies and I think she’s trying to get herself out, but I think she’s doing that by doing what’s comfortable for her ie. lying. I believe everyone is capable of repair and change, I just have yet to see her do it.
Tara Knight thoroughly outed herself as a liar on her instagram, and was losing hundreds of followers every time she came out with a new lie. She seemingly ai generated a letter when the rag newsite The Needle asked her for comment, she claimed she sent them the letter on Bluesky, and then changed course on instagram saying she never sent it to them. I want to be clear that article by the needle was racist and am only really interested in the pdf of a letter and Tara’s own reaction to it.
She then made a public apology stating the fbi letter was a hoax, telling people to stop defending her for it. Then she posted a new letter on her announcements on her instagram, claiming that was the real letter, saying it was probably from a stalker. This letter was dated January 11th, while the original claim was made on January 6th. Additionally it had clearly never been folded like a piece of mail would be and contained none of the original threats, namely to cease publication of her book, and delete her writings on Substack. The response from her audience was disbelief, and was subsequently called out by her friend Rose161 for lying again. They had a public argument via their respective instagram stories, subsequently they both deleted all of these stories, and Tara deleted her latest claim of a new letter. She then finally took a break from instagram, and migrated to tumblr where she has been denying any accusation of lying, and painting herself as a victim of a hate mob. Most of the comments and replies I saw expressed frustration, confusion, and disappointment. Many people giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was sent a threatening letter, no matter how suspect her claims or behavior.
I followed her following the original claim of a threatening letter earlier this month. I had never heard of her before, but quickly muted her account finding something to be fishy but unable to put my finger on it. I’ve attached the letters below for reference, the first is the gen ai letter referenced by the needle, the second is her most recent claim, the third is one she sent privately to her own friends. I’ve also included her apology admitting to the threat being a hoax, and the closest thing to an explanation she has given.
Ultimately I think this destroys her credibility as a writer and voice within the community. She doesn’t deserve hate, certainly doesn’t deserve racism. Sending mean anons will only reinforce her victim mentality, and provides fuel for her blind followers to believe her more. However I think a public lie like this that she used to grift money from her own largely trans following is bad, and requires public awareness.
