Guide to Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate and Disinformation
Anti-LGBTQ hate speech, harassment, and disinformation — ranging from overt bigotry to dog whistles — cause real harm to LGBTQ people and to society as a whole. GLAAD continues to document and monitor an alarming rise in such content and behavior across the major social media platforms. The invention of false tropes (often via memes) is a common trend in extremist hate and disinformation, serving as an effective viral strategy for the spread of all kinds of conspiracy theories. The GLAAD Guide to Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate and Disinformation is an ongoing project to identify some of the most prevalent and egregious terms, tropes, and concepts that are used to harass, attack, and spread malicious misinformation about LGBTQ people on social media. We urge social media companies to use this guide as an authoritative resource for identifying and understanding anti-LGBTQ content, especially as they continue to develop and enforce their hate speech and harassment policies.
This is not an exhaustive list. GLAAD will update this guide on an ongoing basis. As much as possible, the entries below have been deeply researched to include citations pointing to fact-checking sites, media coverage, and other civil society organizations.
Click the terms below to jump to their definitions.
*CONTENT WARNING*
The examples below include hateful terms, phrases and imagery.
“Gender Ideology”
Employed by prominent anti-LGBTQ accounts and similar to the trope “transgenderism,” “gender ideology” is a malicious rhetorical construct that falsely asserts that LGBTQ — notably trans — people are an ideological movement rather than an intrinsic identity.
As the ADL notes, “proponents of the phrase often use it to oppose school curricula that feature and/or celebrate LGBTQ+ history or experiences, falsely claiming that such materials promote the sexualization of minors and/or coerce children into identifying as members of the LGBTQ+ community.” The Southern Poverty Law Center adds: “Anti-LGBTQ+ groups often employ the term to claim any kind of positive affirmation of trans young people is a nefarious method of creating or recruiting new trans kids.” On Twitter/X, for example, far-right outlet The Daily Wire widely promoted a speech by anti-trans commentator Matt Walsh, who said in April 2023, “I truly see the fight against gender ideology as the last stand for Western civilization.” Other extremist accounts have used the phrase as a dog whistle to spread animus against trans people. That same month, Gays Against Groomers posted across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X: “Gender ideology must be completely abolished and destroyed.”
According to some studies researching the origin of the phrase, “gender ideology” as an anti-LGBTQ trope can be traced back to Catholic conservative groups in the U.S. in the 1990s. In recent years, anti-LGBTQ groups, commentators, and political figures around the world have employed the phrase — on social platforms, in mass media, and in legal contexts — to dehumanize trans people and oppose LGBTQ rights.
“Globohomo“
Emerging in 2016, this multi-purpose, right-wing troll invention combines homophobia and anti-Semitism. Researcher David Futrelle’s well-known misogyny tracking site We Hunted The Mammoth offers this summary: “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.’).” According to the Online Hate Research and Education Project, white nationalists and other hate movements use “globohomo” to allege the existence of a global plot to promote the so-called ‘‘LGBTQ+ agenda,” a similarly minded conspiracy theory (promoted by certain sectors of the Christian religious right) alleging that LGBTQ people aim to surpass the rights of other groups and “groom youth into identifying as part of the community.”
“Groomer”
The anti-LGBTQ “groomer” trope (and similar baseless and dangerous rhetoric falsely asserting that LGBTQ people are pedophiles, sexual predators, and threats to children) is dangerous hate speech which has been popularized to foment fear and hatred, and ultimately violence, against LGBTQ people — specifically targeting them in direct violation of the hate speech policies of all social media platforms.
In recent years the term “groomer” has been widely used by far-right figures as an anti-LGBTQ slur. In March 2020, a 4chan thread had urged trolls to reply to tweets from LGBTQ people with “OK groomer,” as a play on the “OK boomer” meme, Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic instructor Alejandra Caraballo writes. A variety of prominent alt-right and anti-LGBTQ accounts, including Jack Posobiec, James Lindsay, Libs of TikTok, and Ben Shapiro, subsequently began popularizing the “groomer” trope. In July 2022 multiple platforms including Meta, TikTok and Reddit issued public statements proclaiming that use of the term as an anti-LGBTQ slur was in violation of their hate speech policies; in 2022-2023, multiple companies including TikTok, Google, PayPal, Venmo, Wix, Printful and others have suspended social media accounts perpetuating the trope for being in violation of their hate speech policies. As a 2023 Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) Global report summarizes: “Around the world today, the use of the term ‘groomer’ is used to justify hate, discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ+ community. In the US particularly, the use of this language, along with conspiratorial thinking around queer people, has led to legislation preventing the discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools and preventing trans children from accessing gender affirming healthcare, and has motivated attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals.”
Right-wing extremists have long propagated the term, but in recent years, it has become a mainstream conservative talking point and has been weaponized by politicians such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ron DeSantis. ISD further explains: “Part of the success of this mainstreaming lies in the ability of fringe actors to manipulate the general public’s lack of knowledge of queer culture and particularly their insensitivity to the plight of trans people. This has been coupled with the most potent fear — that of people harming children, which has been used to justify hatred and irrationality for centuries.”
“LGBTP”
“LGBTS” or “LGBTQIAS”
“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 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.’” After it found popularity on TikTok, the “Super Straight” meme went viral on 4chan, a forum popular with members of the neo-Nazi movement, with many “Super Straight” posts including “logos or flags similar to the Nazi ‘SS,’” according to Snopes.
Here the speaker disingenuously 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 societal 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, including highjacking the #TransgenderDayofVisibility hashtag to troll and bury content by trans people and allies. In March 2021, Them reported that TikTok and Reddit have swiftly responded to the emergence of the trend. Reddit shut down the r/superstraight subreddit and TikTok deplatformed Royce and shadow-banned the hashtag. However, dozens of “Super Straight” accounts remain active across various platforms. This Insider piece offers further in-depth analysis.
“Transgenderism”
The current usage of “transgenderism” arises from anti-trans extremists who seek to delegitimize and dehumanize trans people by implying that being trans is an ideology rather than an identity. (See here for a longer history of the term’s usage.)
The ADL notes: “By using the term ‘transgenderism’ instead of ‘trans people,’ anti-trans activists call for online and offline marginalization of and/or harm to transgender individuals under the guise of opposing an ideology.” In her March 2023 essay, “On the Right’s Call to “Eradicate Transgenderism” (It Means Exactly What You Think It Means)” Parker Molloy further explains: “A reminder that words like ‘transgenderism’ and ‘gender ideology’ are almost exclusively used by anti-trans activists to obscure the fact that trans people are simply people who just happen to be trans. It’s not a belief system.”
The term “transgenderism” was notably weaponized in a vicious March 2023 speech by right-wing extremist Michael Knowles at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, where Knowles pronounced that “For the good of society … transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.” Knowles posted versions of the speech on YouTube, as well as variations of the same rhetoric on his other social media accounts, while disingenuously asserting that his genocidal call was not genocidal.
On social media, Knowles and other far-right media figures employ the term (along with other variations of the trope such as “gender ideology”) to disingenuously evade platforms’ hate speech and harassment policies — which prohibit speech targeting people with hate on the basis of protected characteristics, such as gender identity, (while speech targeting ideologies is allowed). Anti-trans figures and groups continue to promote the term online and offline as a dog whistle expressing contempt and hatred of transgender people.
“Transtrender“
This misguided and false trope claims that trans and/or non-binary people are not really trans, but are merely following modern “trends” of gender exploration for social or online capital. The trope is also intertwined with the hate-driven conspiracy theories of “gender ideology” and “social contagion” which falsely state that the trans experience is learned, a choice, and is consciously adopted from others, rather than an innate identity. The Trans Language Primer offers a thorough, yet concise debunking: “A derogatory term used most often by transmedicalists and TERFs to imply that certain people only identify as transgender because it is trendy— often trans youth and non-binary people. This is false; the rise in people identifying as trans is due to greater visibility, representation, and education that allows more people to learn about the language that describes their experiences earlier and in places where that language hasn’t been common before.”
Wiktionary accurately describes the term as derogatory (note that there are deeper layers of discussion of the concept within the trans community itself), and a 2017 Quartz article on alt-right neologisms offers a history of its transphobic origins on Reddit. This trope is also another example of how hate and misinformation are often entwined together in a given meme or concept.
“Transvestigation“
“Troon”
The Online Hate Research and Education Project defines this derogatory anti-trans word as: “A slur used by transphobes to refer to and dehumanize transgender women. The term is a portmanteau of the words ‘trans’ and ‘goon,’ and carries the connotation that those accused of being ‘troons’ are using gender identity to hide sinister and potentially violent ends.” According to Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic instructor Alejandra Caraballo, the slur first appeared on the Something Awful internet forum where users referred to themselves as “goons.” This usage became far more targeted and derisive on Kiwi Farms, a notorious anti-trans online forum known for mass-organized stalking, doxxing, stealing, and harassment, including prompting the suicides of three trans people targeted by members. The forum singled out trans and neurodivergent people as part of its harassment campaigns, which in some cases led to dangerous cases of “swatting,” where members would make false calls to law enforcement, who would show up armed to victims’ homes. (In September 2022, Cloudflare blocked the site, which signaled to other internet infrastructure providers that Kiwi Farms was a liability.) The term has reached even broader use in early 2023 as social media accounts that target trans people (such as the formerly-suspended but now re-platformed @Troonytoons Twitter/X account) use the term “troon” in their profile names as a signifier that they are focused on producing and circulating anti-trans content. The account targets trans people on Twitter/X by leaking personal information or calling for dogpiling campaigns, and often acts as a laundering service to push networked cyberstalking campaigns from Kiwi Farms to mainstream platforms.
“Unwanted Same Sex Attraction”
“Unwanted same-sex attraction” is a phrase utilized by those who promote so-called “conversion therapy,” the harmful and discredited practice of attempting to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. All major medical, psychiatric, and psychological organizations have condemned “conversion therapy,” and the United Nations has compared it to “torture.”
While “conversion therapy” is the most common term, there are many alternate phrases promoting the practice that continue to gain popularity online. As The Daily Beast reports: “With a new wave of younger, digital-native influencers, the long-discredited ‘ex-gay’ movement—which first surfaced in the 1970s and peaked in the 1990s only to fall away in the early 2000s—is undergoing a rebrand.” So-called ex-gay influencers on TikTok and Instagram “are building social media followings on the back of content that purports to show how it’s possible to ‘overcome’ same-sex attraction.”
One of the primary recommendations of GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Program is that tech companies and social media platforms should better mitigate and moderate these alternate phrases, including: become heterosexual/straight; cure homosexuality; delivered/deliverance from homosexuality; ex gay, ex lesbian, ex LGBT, ex trans; former gay, former lesbian, former LGBT, former trans; free from homosexuality, free from same-sex attraction; gay cure; gender confusion, gender identity issues; gender exploratory therapy; leave homosexuality, leave same-sex attraction; overcome homosexuality, overcome same-sex attraction; reintegrative therapy, reparative therapy; same-sex attracted; seeking to change my sexual orientation; sexual orientation change; sexual reorientation therapy; struggling with homosexuality, struggling with same-sex attraction; unwanted same-sex attraction.
As noted in a 2024 Global Project Against Hate & Extremism (GPAHE) report (Conversion Therapy Online: The Ecosystem In 2023), search engines and platforms are failing to adequately reduce the circulation of harmful anti-LGBTQ “conversion therapy” material and providers, and they must urgently implement new solutions. GLAAD is actively working to urge these companies to better address this content, as well as driving thought-leadership in the field with reports such as this one: All Social Media Platforms Should Have Policy Prohibitions Against Harmful So-Called “Conversion Therapy” Content.
Conclusion
There are many additional and ever-evolving examples of hate terms, tropes, memes, narratives, and rhetorical constructions that bad actors continue to develop and amplify. As GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Index has noted, influential accounts promote these terms with the intent of fear-mongering and pushing hate-driven conspiracy theories about LGBTQ people (which can also intersect with hate against other historically marginalized groups).
While a comprehensive list of such terms and tropes is beyond the scope of this project, some examples include:
“41%;” “Biological male/female;” “LGBTQ agenda;” Mischaracterizations of gender-affirming care for trans people and youth (including using terms like “sterilization,” “castration,” “mutilation”); “Parents’ rights;” “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD);” “Social contagion;” “Trans terrorist;” “Transhausen by proxy;” “Transing;” “Womanface.”
These are just a few examples of anti-LGBTQ online hate and disinformation. Every term and concept should be evaluated in context. For instance, LGBTQ people and allies may use hashtags with hate terms as counterspeech, or slurs such as “tranny” or “dyke” may be used self-referentially to reclaim them. This guide will be updated on an ongoing basis. Please see the latest GLAAD Social Media Safety Index report for a deeper exploration of the current social media landscape for LGBTQ people, including GLAAD’s recommendations and thought leadership in the field.
How to Report Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate Speech and Harassment
Every major social media platform has policies which prohibit hate and harassment on the basis of protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity. To learn how to report potentially violative content, check out GLAAD’s LGBTQ Digital Safety Guide, which includes basic tips on helping our community be more safe online.
About GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Program
As the leading national LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD is working every day to hold tech companies and social media platforms accountable, and to secure safe online spaces for LGBTQ people. The GLAAD Social Media Safety (SMS) program researches, monitors, and reports on a variety of issues facing LGBTQ social media users — with a focus on safety, privacy, and expression. The SMS program has consulted directly with platforms and tech companies on some of the most significant LGBTQ policy and product developments over the years. In addition to ongoing advocacy work with platforms (including TikTok, X/Twitter, YouTube, and Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and others), and issuing the highly-respected annual Social Media Safety Index (SMSI) report, the SMS program produces resources, guides, publications, and campaigns, and actively works to educate the general public and raise awareness in the media about LGBTQ social media safety issues, especially anti-LGBTQ hate and disinformation.