Website keeps track of homophobic tweets, with a live feed and counter

By April Hudson

EDMONTON (CUP) — A new website from the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies & Services has gone viral in less than a week, in an attempt to spread awareness of homophobic language.

The website, nohomophobe.com, tracks the tweets of people using the phrases “faggot,” “no homo,” “so gay,” and “dyke” — some of which have been tweeted more than 2,000,000 times since July 5. Kristopher Wells, assistant professor and associate director for the institute, launched the website on Sept. 26 in order to address what he calls “casual homophobia.”

In a matter of days, the website had hundreds of thousands of hits, and, as word began to spread, so did the message Wells is trying to get across: it’s time to stop tolerating homophobic language.

“This kind of casual homophobia is just no longer acceptable in our society. And that’s the primary objective of our campaign, is to call attention and ultimately extinguish the use of these harmful words,” he said.

“People need to stand up and account for their own conduct. We can’t make people change, but what we can do is try to raise that critical awareness to help them think twice before they use this kind of language without thinking that it causes harm.”

The most common use of casual homophobia, according to the website, is the word “faggot” — which has been used more than 2.5 million times.

“That’s not a word that’s used in too many positive contexts,” Wells said.

In light of social ignorance, Wells says the website is designed to reflect back the damaging uses of homophobic words in society.

“We know that the use of homophobic language still remains one of the few acceptable forms of discrimination in our society,” he said.

“It’s happening virtually every second of every day — you can’t even keep up with the number of tweets that are scrolling through the website. And that website is pulling in tweets from all over the English-speaking world, so it’s not just Alberta, that’s not just Canada or the United States.”

The website is designed to show all tweets carrying those key phrases, but Wells acknowledges context matters — something the website can’t track.

“Context matters — it always matters. That old nursery rhyme your parents used to tell you, that sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me, is wrong. Words do hurt. Words have the power to shape identities,” he said.

“We don’t accept the fact that these words are harmless. What these words do, no matter who’s using them, is serve to reinforce stereotypes that are used as powerful weapons to defile and further marginalize gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.”

He added that an overwhelming majority of feedback so far has been positive — so much so that other groups have approached him asking to add sexist and racist terms, as well as terms discriminating against people with disabilities.

“I think people have seen the power of this kind of innovative campaign that blends together social media and public education,” he said.

“It’s surprising that a little website made here in Alberta, which some have often called the Texas of the North, with very conservative social values, could generate this kind of worldwide interest.”

Wells said there are plans for a television commercial to support the website, and also posters that will be hung in bus shelters around the city.

“They all serve the same purpose — to get people to the website to engage in conversation. It’s breaking the silence around these issues and talking about the impacts of casual homophobia that will end it,” he said.