Homophobia in the Digital Age

For generations, homophobia and its many manifestations went unchecked: certainly before Stonewall gay people had little to no voice with which to combat anti-gay attitudes. Despite landmark legislation and social progress in the subsequent decades, homophobia remains part and parcel of the gay experience, but the digital age has helped change the game.

While the internet can be used to coalesce activist missions and bring people together, websites like Facebook and Twitter have also helped the progressive cause by doing what they do best: disseminating people's inner most thoughts, even when they're ugly.

Thanks to social media, homophobic slurs and attitude are jettisoned across the globe, and virtual sentiments end up yielding very real results. Just ask Tea Partier Tim Ravndal and Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice. They both had been penalized after a finger slip sent their less-than-inclusive comments into the world wide web.

I'll start with Ravndal, the former President of Montana's Big Sky Tea Party Association, who last week caused a sensation by apparently condoning anti-gay violence via his Facebook page. "Marriage is between a man and a woman period!" Ravndal declared in his Facebook status. In response, a friend of Ravndal's commented: "I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions." To which Ravndal then added, "Where can I get that Wyoming printed instruction manual?"

The exchange was a not-so thinly veiled reference to Matthew Shepard's murder in Wyoming in 1998. Ravndal later claimed not to have realized the connection.

The Big Sky Tea Party Association was not amused, especially considering the great lengths to which the Tea Party has gone to convince the public they are an inclusive organization. Hoping to prove their point, the Big Sky Tea Party Association gave Ravndal the boot.

"We are extremely disappointed by Mr. Ravndal’s commentary,” remarked the group's chairman, Jim Walker. "Even though Mr. Ravndal was having a personal conversation and made no reference to our group, we felt strongly that swift and decisive action was required as we cannot accept that sort of behavior from within our membership, let alone from an officer of the corporation."

Walker concluded, “We continually make it known that we will not tolerate bigoted dialog, behavior or messages at our functions, our meetings or within our ranks.” Though Tea Party critics have suggested Walker and company are simply blowing smoke, it's refreshing to see someone on that side held accountable for their discriminatory actions.

Meanwhile, down under in Australia, Olympic gold medalist Rice lost a lucrative contract with luxury car maker Jaguar after a questionable tweet this weekend. "Suck on that faggots," the 22-year old wrote in reaction to Australia's rugby team winning over South Africa's Springboks.

Rice immediately felt the heat, and attempted to extinguish the growing outrage by saying, "I made a comment on Twitter on Saturday night in the excitement of the moment. I did not mean to cause offense and I apologize." Regardless of Rice's mea culpa, Jaguar pulled their backing, and are leaving the swimmer in the dust, saying in a statement, "Jaguar Australia today terminated its relationship with Stephanie Rice, who has been an ambassador for the Jaguar brand in Australia since the start of 2010."

The reaction and ramifications to Internet-based homophobia has become far more instantaneous thanks to the internet, which leave offenders little smokescreen or excuse. Ravndal and Rice can apologize all they want; their respective remarks, however, have now been cached in the Internet's memory and, by extension, the public's. Let this be a lesson: homophobia doesn't pay, even on the otherwise anonymous Internet.

Photo credit: Christopher Isherwood's Flickr