Use of Antigay Slurs Soars on Twitter As LGBT Pride Month begins, the use of homophobic language on social media continues to rise

Use of Antigay Slurs Soars on Twitter

As LGBT Pride Month begins, the use of homophobic language on social media continues to rise.

BY Jase Peeples

June 06 2013 3:35 PM ET

Though the LGBT community has made great strides in the battle for equal rights over the past 12 months, the use of antigay hate speech on Twitter has only increased.
Gathering numbers from the site NoHomoPhobes.com, Vocative reports that use of the word “faggot” has more than doubled in the past year, rising from approximately 22,000 to 58,000 mentions per day on the social media site.
The use of “dyke” in tweets has remained steady at about 3,500 mentions daily.
Use of the terms “so gay” and “no homo” has also remained around the same over the past year, with the exception of occasional spikes in usage tied to news stories, such as the recent incident of NBA player Roy Hibbert saying “no homo” at a press conference.