NoHomophobes.com, a website tracking the use of gay slurs on Twitter, has tracked more than 2.5 million instances of usage of the word "faggot" on Twitter in the last two months, a rate that, if consistent, means the homophobic slur is used more than 15 million times in the course of a year.
The website also tracks the slurs "dyke" and the phrases "no homo" and "so gay".
The creator, Dr. Kristopher Wells at Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, University of Alberta, writes:
This website is designed as a social mirror to show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society. Words and phrases like “faggot,” “dyke,” “no homo,” and “so gay” are used casually in everyday language, despite promoting the continued alienation, isolation and — in some tragic cases — suicide of sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ) youth.
We no longer tolerate racist language, we’re getting better at dealing with sexist language, but sadly we’re still not actively addressing homophobic and transphobic language in our society.
Let’s put an end to casual homophobia. Speak out when you see or hear homophobic or transphobic language from friends, at school,in the locker room, at work or online.
