After months of reported anti-LGBTQ hate speech violations, Meta has finally suspended the account of Valentina Gomez, a MAGA former political candidate. Gomez had regularly gone viral spewing brazen slurs and misinformation to her audience of over 90,000 followers.

Gomez recently ran for Missouri’s Secretary of State under the slogan “Don’t be weak and gay.” Along with numerous queerphobic antics on her social media accounts—which included calling for a “f****t category” in the Olympics, referring to trans people as “these transgender things,” and referring to the LGBTQ+ community at large as “a terrorist organization”—she set fire to a pile of LGBTQ+-friendly books with a flamethrower. Gomez was ultimately humiliated in the primary, finishing sixth place and earning only 7.5% of the vote. 

Related
GOP candidate slams “weak and gay” Pride Month in vile video rant

But despite this setback, Gomez has not slowed down spreading her online hate speech. In her most recent post (dated September 17) to the Instagram account @ValentinaForUSA, she repeatedly used the f-slur while complaining to Elon Musk about the demonetization of her X account.

“Elon, I speak the truth. I catch pedophiles, and I am literally helping you destroy the woke virus that took your child,” she said, referencing Musk’s comments about his transgender daughter Vivian Wilson. “And yes, once in a blue moon I called these f*****s exactly what they are. They are f*****s. Elon, I don’t ask for much. I simply ask that you don’t throttle me or restrict me when I say the word f*****t.”

That video finally got her a suspension from Meta, the company that owns Instagram (though her X account has since been reinstated). But for advocates, the suspension was far too late. A GLAAD representative told The Advocate they had been reporting the account for months before finally getting Meta to take action. Even then, it took 72 hours for the account to be reviewed.

“As part of our work to actively monitor accounts that spread anti-LGBTQ hate and misinformation, GLAAD has been urging Meta to address Valentina Gomez’s constant posting of hate, slurs, and threats of violence for months,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, said.

“Slow action, or at times no action at all, emboldens anti-LGBTQ activists to post increasingly extreme violent and dehumanizing content with the intent of inciting violence and hatred against our community.”

According to Ellis, other platforms like X, Squarespace and WordPress had long since taken action to enforce their hate speech policies and curb Gomez’s account. “It is unfortunate that it took Meta months, and multiple high-profile posts with anti-LGBTQ slurs and hate, to finally make good on fully enforcing its own hate speech policies for accounts like this,” Ellis said.

“Hopefully this latest action is a sign that Meta will prioritize enforcing its policies when it comes to disgusting lies, slurs, and calls for violence against our community.”

Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock our articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated