Facebook Deleted This Viral Post About Homophobia After the Orlando Shooting

A Facebook post condemning homophobia and transphobia in the wake of the Orlando shooting was deleted shortly after it went viral.

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In the wake of the tragic massacre at Orlando gay nightclub Pulse, transfeminine rapper and producer Michete posted a message on Facebook speaking out against homophobia and transphobia. After the post was shared over 2,000 times, Michete says the post was removed by Facebook because it did not meet the sites Community Guidelines.

Machete's post read:

Hey, straight people. I'm glad to see so many of you expressing your condolences and heartbreak in the wake of the tragedy in Orlando last night, but honestly, I am NOT here for fake solidarity. If you're going to stand with us today, stand with us every other day of the year. Stop saying the word "gay" as an insult. Stop casually using slurs like faggot, queer, and homo. Stop misgendering trans people and treating gender non-conforming people as punchlines. Stop thinking it's funny to call Caitlyn "Bruce." Stop making fun of men for being feminine, stop making fun of women for being masculine. Stop telling us where to pee. Stop perpetuating the idea that we aren't fit to get married or raise children. Stop claiming that you're cool with us as long as we don't "shove sexuality down your throat." Stop complaining about how we're "over represented" in media. And stop excusing your friends who do any and all of this shit. Take this as a wake up call that you NEED to examine your own homophobia and transphobia and you NEED to hold yourself and your friends accountable for the ways in which you all contribute to the exact mindset that lead a man to believe it was permissible to slaughter 50 of us. Your role in this is bigger than you think.

On Tuesday, Michete posted a tweet with screencaps of the notice from Facebook that the post about Orlando had been removed:

Later on Tuesday, Michete tweeted an update, which said that Facebook banned the post a second time, and blocked Michete from posting or messaging on Facebook for 24 hours:

Many were angered by the news that Michete's Facebook post had been removed, claiming that the social media site fails to remove blatantly racist, homophobic, sexist, or otherwise offensive material, but somehow Michete's post about Orlando was deemed inappropriate.

The post was removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate. Our team processes millions of reports each week, and we sometimes get things wrong. We're very sorry about this mistake. 

Among the content that Facebook's Community Guidelines says the site will ban are direct threats, hate speech, and violence and graphic content.

A Facebook spokesperson told Complex over email that,

Michete did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment.

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