Anti-LGBTQ+ ‘groomer’ slur explosion linked to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law in eye-opening report

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Use of the anti-LGBTQ+ slur “groomer” on social media shot up in the wake of Florida’s cruel “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, a report has found.

The report, by Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDC), also found that social media companies have failed to combat use of this phrase and others comparing LGBTQ+ people to “predators” or “paedophiles”.

On 29 March, the day after Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill was signed into law, banning discussions on LGBTQ+ topics between kindergarten and third grade,  use the phrase “OK groomer” peaked on Twitter.

it was tweeted 9,219 in total – about once every nine seconds.

Though Twitter has now banned the use of the word “groomer” when directed at trans and non-binary people, the report claimed that in the week after the ban was introduced, “OK groomer” was still mentioned 4,677 times – an average of 668 times per day.

“The phrase received little pick-up until after the ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ bill,” the HRC report said.

“In the month before the passing of the bill, it was tweeted an average of 54 times per day, which jumped to 1,385 per day in the month after, a 2,565 per cent increase.

“In total, the phrase has been mentioned 127,537 times since the bill was passed – an average of 898 times per day.”

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