Anti-LGBTQ Hate Speech Increases by Over 400 Percent after Passage of “Don’t Say Gay”
thegavoice.comA new report from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has found that online anti-LGBTQ hate has surged over 400 percent following the passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
Researchers collected a sample of 989,547 tweets posted between January 1 and July 27 that mentioned the LGBTQ community alongside inflammatory language like “groomer” and “pedophile.” The report revealed that the average number of tweets per day suggesting that LGBTQ people are “groomers,” “predators,” and “pedophiles” increased by 406 percent in the month after the bill, which prohibits discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida public primary schools, was passed.
Results concluded that an average of 6,607 tweets everyday used this language in the month that followed the bill passing, an increase from 1,307 tweets the month before.
There was also an increase in the use of the hashtag #OKGroomer to insult queer educators, advocates, organizations, and more.
Read more on thegavoice.com
