Guide to Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate and Disinformation

Transvestigation

From Madonna to Mike Tyson to Melania Trump, this hate-driven conspiracy theory emerged in early 2017 and asserts that certain celebrities are transgender and then “investigates” by offering fake pseudo-scientific “evidence” to prove the assertion (as in the above example, from the YouTube account mentioned below, attempting to prove that Madonna’s body-type is male). This is a notable example of how anti-LGBTQ hate actually impacts everyone — the targets of the harassment are cis celebrities. Content related to this form of anti-transgender hate runs rampant across all social media platforms, from a Pinterest board with 2.64K followers, to crowd-sourced Facebook groups, to hashtagged tweets (like this one of Melania Trump) and hashtagged Instagram posts (like this vicious attack on Vice President Kamala Harris). The concept is especially widespread on YouTube. Posted by the YouTube account, “Wake Up Before Christ Comes,” the 27-minute video entitled, “TRANSVESTIGATION of MADONNA — Undeniable PROOF!!! “SHE” is a MAN!” offers a faux-scientific analysis of the pop star’s anatomy which serves as a vehicle for a lengthy diatribe of dehumanizing anti-trans tropes and rhetoric. It should go without saying but we will say it: People should not be subjected to dehumanizing attacks on their bodies and identities.

Transtrender Google search results screenshot (October 16, 2020)

Transtrender

This is another concept that attacks transgender people for being who they are. Like “Transvestigation” above, this concept has not yet been widely researched and debunked by major fact checking sites (though a 2017 Quartz article on alt-right neologisms offers a history of its transphobic origins on Reddit.) In fact, a Google search (in October 2020) surfaces a “featured snippet” result from an LGBT site that gives a confusing impression without conveying the delegitimizing origins of the term (see screenshot; note that the gender.wikia.org definition accurately describes the term as derogatory, and also note that there are deeper layers of discussion of the concept within the trans community itself). To further understand the dehumanizing usage of the term, see The Christian Institute’s March 2020 article (which comes up as item number four in a Google News search on March 25, 2021), “Teenagers and the Trans Contagion,” which urges readers to “think carefully about how to reach the victims, and would-be victims, of the contagious transgender culture.” Item number three on Google News search offers a similar sentiment from The Daily Mail, with the lead sentence: “Schools are facing a ‘transtrender problem’ with pupils identifying as transgender to be cool and rebellious, a former top headmistress said yesterday.” It is troubling, to say the least, to see such an example of unexamined hate appearing at this level in a mainstream news context. This is also another example of how hate and misinformation are so often entwined together in a given meme or concept.

Globohomo

David Futrelle’s well-known online misogyny tracking site, We Hunted The Mammoth describes this multi-purpose right-wing troll invention as having emerged in 2016 and offers this summary of its hateful combination of homophobia and anti-Semitism: “Ostensibly, ‘globohomo’ is short for ‘global homogenization,’ an alleged vast conspiracy to destroy ‘traditional’ culture and values and replace them with a sort of global (naturally) corporate uniculture. But it’s rarely used in this way, at least not exactly. For those who’ve seized upon the term, ‘globo’ means ‘globalist’ and therefore Jews; while ‘homo’ (the suffix) means, well, ‘homo’ (the slur). (Some, evidently worried that ‘globohomo’ isn’t gay-sounding enough, add ‘gayplex’ to it — ‘globohomogayplex.’).” This specific meme pictured above was posted on Instagram and promotes a vicious extremist Telegram account called Rednecks.

LGBTP

This fake acronym began circulating as a malignant meme in 2016 and 2017, and had a fresh resurgence in 2020. It promotes the lie that the LGBTQ community is adding a letter “P,” for “pedosexual,” to the LGBT acronym. Researchers in the field of online extremism have identified this as an example of an anti-LGBT “PsyOps” campaign intended to harm the LGBT community.A 2020 Reuters “Fact Check” reports: “The LGBTQ community does not condone ‘pedosexuals’ and no groups have shared that they do. These claims are false.” A 2020 USA Today “Fact Check” also notes: “The assertion that the LGBTQ community condones or supports pedophilia is not only false, but rooted in a history of bigotry.” GLAAD anecdotally reported two LGBTP memes to Facebook (in May and July 2020) and they were removed, but there is currently no blanket rule against them despite the fact that they violate Community Guidelines.

CloverGender

Another deliberate attempt to conflate the LGBTQ community with pedophilia is the ‘CloverGender’ meme, which originated on 4chan in 2017. One aspect of these hate-driven “PsyOps” campaigns is the creation of fake social media accounts in which supposed “clovergenders” proclaim their identity as part of the LGBT community to thereby damage the community with the assertion, note the additional layer of psychological manipulation above in the made-up argument distinguishing this identity from pedophilia. Revived in 2020, these memes continue to circulate on social media despite being debunked by Snopes; USA Today (“Fact check: ‘Clovergender’ isn’t part of the LGBTQ community”); and Reuters (“Fact check: ‘Clovergender’ is an alt-right hoax”). As Reuters summarizes: “Posts on social media claim that people identifying as ‘Clovergender’ are attempting to justify pedophilia. This damaging claim stems from an alt-right hoax intended to slur members of the LGBT community.”

Super Straight

Launched to prominence in February 2021 by TikTok user Kyle Royce, this particular transphobic trope and corresponding hashtag was quickly taken up by anti-trans social media users. Disingenuously premised on a logical fallacy, the “Super Straight” meme offers a combination of whataboutism and false equivalency. A March 11, 2021 them article offers context and a partial transcription of the video: “Royce said he had ‘made a new sexuality’ because he was tired of being called transphobic for not wanting to date trans women. ‘Now, I’m super straight,’ he continued. ‘I only date the opposite gender, women, that are born women. So you can’t say I’m transphobic now because that is just my sexuality.’”

Here the speaker asserts that this “identity” is a mere neutral (non-hateful) orientation, equivalent to LGBTQ identities and deserving of similar recognition and respect—and further, that the assertion is not an example of transphobia but simply an earnest expression of self. Like “Straight Pride” (and other hate-driven ideologies including “White Power”) these kinds of arguments are built on a feigned ignorance of real-world social discrimination against marginalized groups and are a well-documented strategy of right-wing extremists for sowing discord and trolling the left. Like the LGBTP campaign, Super Straight has continued to evolve as a vehicle for anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ conduct and content — the March 31, 2021 tweet above features the “Super Straight flag” and highjacks the Transgender Day of Visibility hashtag to troll trans people and allies. A March 8 Insider article offers further in-depth analysis. Both TikTok and Reddit have swiftly responded to the emergence of the trend. Reddit shut down the r/superstraight subreddit and TikTokdeplatformed Royce and shadow-banned the hashtag. The original TikTok video remains available on YouTube and dozens of Super Straight accounts remain active on Twitter and Instagram as of March 31, 2021.

How to Report Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate Speech

The ADL Cyber-Safety Action Guide summarizes the hate speech policies of social media platforms and other top websites and includes links for reporting such speech. The World Health Organization also offers a helpful page, “How to report misinformation online.” And this June 2020 article from PC Magazine, “How to Report Abuse on Social Media,” features an illustrated guide to reporting things on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Lastly, the Consumer Reports feature, “How to Filter Hate Speech, Hoaxes, and Violent Clips Out of Your Social Feeds,” is a helpful guide that walks through some easy steps to reduce exposure to anti-LGBTQ hate in your feeds on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok (as well as Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat and WhatsApp).

You can also report anti-LGBTQ memes and content to submissions@glaad.org. Please include links to uses of the memes.

Conclusion

These are just a few examples of Anti-LGBTQ Online hate speech (note that all of these examples should be evaluated within the context in which they appear — for instance, in many cases certain hateful hashtags have themselves come to serve as debunking tools when LGBTQ users and allies have utilized them to create messages denouncing such hate; of course there are also numerous examples of terms and phrases such as “queer” or “tranny” or “dyke” in which LGBTQ people are using these terms in self-referring ways). This listing will be updated on an ongoing basis as part of the GLAAD Media Institute’s Social Media Safety Index (SMSI). Please see the full SMSI report for much more information and for a deep exploration of the current dangerous social media landscape for LGBTQ people—including GLAAD’s recommendations and thought leadership in the field.

A Note of Acknowledgement

Documenting the myriad examples of anti-LGBTQ conduct and content which impact LGBTQ people and communities, the GLAAD Listing of Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate Speech is an ongoing part of GLAAD’s efforts to make the world a safer place for LGBTQ people—and for all. GLAAD is grateful to the many organizations and individuals doing this important work. We especially want to acknowledge the team at the Shorenstein Center and also the Hate On Display™: Hate Symbols Database created by the ADL, which has served as a model for this project.