Facebook works to remove hate speech
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Facebook is working with a gay-advocacy group to reduce hate speech and bullying on the online social hub.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said it reached out to Facebook after Internet bullies flooded a page set up to honor teens who recently killed themselves in response to antigay hate.
Facebook said that its policies prohibit hateful content and that it has systems in place to take down such posts as soon as possible. But the company also said it wants its users to be able to express unpopular opinions and as such must strike a careful balance between removing harmful content and letting people speak freely.
“Facebook has taken an important first step in making social media a place where antigay violence is not allowed,” said Jarrett Barrios, the president of GLAAD.
Students rally after gay shirt assault
The Chicago Tribune reports students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater rallied after a woman was punched in the face while wearing a T-shirt that said “legalize gay.”
Between 50-100 people gathered Oct. 15 to raise awareness of hate crimes.
The victim is a UW-Whitewater student. Campus police say late last month she was approached by two men she didn’t know. She says one called her a homophobic slur and punched her, bruising her face.
Police released profiles of the two suspects shortly after the alleged attack. A police lieutenant said that no arrests have been made.
Wal-Mart sells ex-gay kids’ book
Advocate.com reports more than 100 Wal-Mart stores are selling a book for kids and parents that suggests gay people can overcome “sin” and convert to heterosexuality with the help of counseling.
“Chased by an Elephant: The Gospel Truth About Today’s Stampeding Sexuality” is written by Janice Barrett Graham, whose husband, Stephen, runs the antigay group Standard of Liberty.
In the book’s introduction, Graham says she wrote the book to “help shed the clear light of truth on today’s dark and tangled ideas about male and female, proper gender roles, the law of chastity and the God-given sexual appetite.”
Graham’s son Andrew claims he successfully changed his sexual orientation and is now a happily married man.
— Larry Nichols