Twitter Trending Topic September 4
The number one trending topic on twitter this afternoon is #uknowhowiknowuregay
Thousands of homophobic tweets a minute are being sent. It's like a massive school yard bully fest and the punch line is the LGBT community.
It is unclear who started the trending topic, but the snowball effect is hard to ignore. It is a slice of the subliminal homophobic messages that our culture tolerates on a regular basis, amplified on a scale that only twitter can produce.
It is also impossible to ignore that the topic is largely being supported by the African American community, highlighting even further the disconnect between the national leadership at the NAACP who is supportive of the LGBT community, and the younger African American community.
This morning Pam Spaulding, from Pam's House Blend coinsodently posted a statement from renowned civil rights activist, Julian Bond:
I do not believe the battle for LGBT rights will ever be won until we can diminish the homophobia in black communities and until more in the black LGBT community join the battle openly.
(It is awfully easy for a straight man to say "come out" - I can only imagine the scorn and derision that would follow some who did so.)
I've often wondered what would be the result of black LGBT church goers standing up in the churches they attend and saying "I'm gay - you know me - I'm like you. I am what God made me. Why do you treat me so badly?"
(It is equally easy for a non-church goer like me to say that.)
If not a church goer, I am an optimist - and I believe the day when equality for all reigns will soon come.
Unfortunately, today we do not have to imagine because it is available for the entire world to see. Sadly among those witnessing this phenomenon are undoubtedly young closeted LGBT members of the African American community who I can imagine are feeling very isolated right now.
Comments
Why do we still take these people seriously? You can tell by the way they type and the shows they reference that they can hardly manage the brain power to breath.
how could you survive on only penis shaped foods? banannas cucumbers, zucchini, steak cut into penis shapes?
Most of the people I follow that participated in the topic were gay themselves; that's like me writing, "You know you're from the ghetto when..." and I'm from the ghetto.
You can't take twitter trending topics that literally. Half the people posting might be gay themselves, or not even remotely homophobic. Just because they are young, black, and posting with lots of slang and silly spelling (young people of all races these days seem to prefer that style), it does not mean you can assume the intentions behind all of the posts.
As a gay man, I have to admit I found some of the jokes funny. However, most I did not. What would be the reaction if the number one topic was uknowhowiknowurblack? Think about it. There would be uproar. It is easy to say "I was only joking" but the vast majority of the jokes were ignorant, enforced negative stereotypes and incited homophobia. Would Twitter have allowed a racist topic become a number one trend? I am glad this trended because it has revealed an ugly homophobic face of our community. A face that has been 'outed'.
I messaged people individually and challenged them, every single one stopped posting these stupid jokes when they saw my point of view. I asked them if they would find it funny if I said a joke along the lines of "#youknowhowiknowurblack cos you wish you were white". Or "...cos when I saw you driving that convertible you stole, your lips wuldn't stop flapping in the wind".
It just aint that funny is it?
As a gay man, I have to admit I found some of the jokes funny. However, most I did not. What would be the reaction if the number one topic was uknowhowiknowurblack? Think about it. There would be uproar. It is easy to say "I was only joking" but the vast majority of the jokes were ignorant, enforced negative stereotypes and incited homophobia. Would Twitter have allowed a racist topic become a number one trend? I am glad this trended because it has revealed an ugly homophobic face of our community. A face that has been 'outed'.
I messaged people individually and challenged them, every single one stopped posting these stupid jokes when they saw my point of view. I asked them if they would find it funny if I said a joke along the lines of "#youknowhowiknowurblack cos you wish you were white". Or "...cos when I saw you driving that convertible you stole, your lips wuldn't stop flapping in the wind".
It just aint that funny is it?
As a gay man, I have to admit I found some of the jokes funny. However, most I did not. What would be the reaction if the number one topic was uknowhowiknowurblack? Think about it. There would be uproar. It is easy to say "I was only joking" but the vast majority of the jokes were ignorant, enforced negative stereotypes and incited homophobia. Would Twitter have allowed a racist topic become a number one trend? I am glad this trended because it has revealed an ugly homophobic face of our community. A face that has been 'outed'.
I messaged people individually and challenged them, every single one stopped posting these stupid jokes when they saw my point of view. I asked them if they would find it funny if I said a joke along the lines of "#youknowhowiknowurblack cos you wish you were white". Or "...cos when I saw you driving that convertible you stole, your lips wuldn't stop flapping in the wind".
It just aint that funny is it?
Check now - a bunch of tweetbians have pushed that homophobic TT out and replaced it with #yaygay.. which is currently the number 3 trending topic.
why did you black out the names twitter is a public site and tweeters know their names are fair game, repost the list with the names unblocked out - so we can all tweet them
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