H8RS GON' H8

Yahoo! Removes Hateful, Anti-Gay Violence-Inciting Comments From Adam Lambert Article

The vicious side of Internet commenting reared its ugly head after an Adam Lambert interview was posted yesterday on Yahoo! Music’s “Reality Rocks” blog.

The feature was mostly about his new album, Trespassing, with mentions of his personal life, his recent brush with the law in Finland and his just having turned 30. While most of the comments posted were innocuous, a startling number incited violence against LGBTs and called for gay people to commit suicide.

The worst offender wrote, “It would make my day if someone was to do to [Lambert] what those men did to Matthew Shepard.”

Either Yahoo! wasn’t moderating the comment section or someone fell asleep at the wheel. Luckily GLAAD stepped in and reminded the company of its own terms-of service policy, which “does not allow content that promotes hatred against users,” including hatred based on “ace, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The end result: 83 hateful comments from the article’s 279 visible comments (29.7%) were deleted.

“Young music fans should be able to interact and comment on sites without seeing violent, hateful comments directed at LGBT people,” said GLAAD’s Director of Digital Initiatives, Allison Palmer. “Yahoo! did the right thing by taking immediate action to enforce their Terms of Service, setting an important example for other leading websites and tech companies.”

Oh, and, before you comment on this article, perhaps you guys should take a minute to refresh your knowledge of Queerty’s Comment Policy.

Alright, now bitch away.

Photo via Carrie Stern

Don't forget to share:

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 Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated