With the 2024 presidential election is just a year away, advocates are doing everything they can do bring attention to the country's most pressing social justice issues. Today, national LGBTQ youth organization the Trevor Project announced it is leaving X (formerly Twitter) amid growing anti-LGBTQ sentiment, both online and off.
"LGBTQ young people — and in particular, trans and nonbinary young people — have been unfairly targeted in recent years, and that can negatively impact their mental health. In 2023, hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in states across the country, which can send the message that LGBTQ people are not deserving of love or respect. We have seen this rhetoric transcend politics and appear on social media platforms," the Trevor Project said in a statement.
SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg vetoed attempts to address teen mental health on Meta platforms, new lawsuit allegesOn Nov. 9, the organization posted the following message on its page:
The Trevor Project has made the decision to close its account on X given the increasing hate & vitriol on the platform targeting the LGBTQ community — the group we exist to serve. LGBTQ young people are regularly victimized at the expense of their mental health, and X's removal of certain moderation functions makes it more difficult for us to create a welcoming space for them on this platform. This decision was made with input from dozens of internal and external perspectives; in particular, we questioned whether leaving the platform would allow harmful narratives and rhetoric to prevail with one less voice to challenge them. Upon deep analysis, we've concluded that suspending our account is the right thing to do.
A 2023 survey of LGBTQ teens conducted by the Trevor Project found that discrimination and online hate contributes to higher rates of suicide risk reported by LGBTQ young people.
In June, GLAAD marked X as the least safe social media platform for LGBTQ users in its annual analysis of online safety, known as the Social Media Safety index. The report cites continued regressive policies, including the removal of protections for transgender users, and remarks by X CEO Elon Musk as factors in creating a "dangerous environment" for LGBTQ Americans.
In April, a coalition of LGBTQ resource centers nationwide formally left the platform in response to the removal of hateful conduct protections for both LGBTQ and BIPOC users, saying in a joint statement: "2023 is on pace to be a record-setting year for state legislation targeting LGBTQ adults and youth. Now is a time to lift up the voices of those who are most vulnerable and most marginalized, and to take a stand against those whose actions are quite the opposite."
Protections for the LGBTQ community and reproductive health access are expected to be a flashpoint in the upcoming election cycle, especially amid Republican candidates. At the same time, social media platforms and the online spaces they create, are facing a growing call to address the rise of hate-filled content and misinformation — now exacerbated by astonishing rise of generative AI tools — that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
The Trevor Project directs any LGBTQ young people looking for a safe space online to its social networking site TrevorSpace.org or its Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts: "No online space is perfect, but having access to sufficient moderation capabilities is essential to maintaining a safer space for our community."
