Twitter blocks ‘bisexual’ search results, draws flak from netizens

Social media site Twitter faced a blunder as it accidentally blocked the word “bisexual,” irking LGBT activists for the mishap.

Netizens first noticed that no search results yielded upon typing the word, unlike “gay” and “lesbian.”

This led to the social media site to tweet saying it was working to fix the problem.

The move caused a backlash from netizens, with one UK-based BiPride saying it was a “bi-erasure” to filter-block results relating to the word “bisexual.”

The Bisexual Index campaign manager, Kate Harrad, told BBC Newsbeat that Twitter should be careful in filtering bisexual content.

“Every bi-activist knows the problems of trying to search for bi-content on the web and some public wifi systems block it altogether, even when it’s nothing to do with sex, because bisexual is seen as a dodgy word in itself,” Harred said in the report.

It is unclear if this is in line with updating Twitter’s Terms and Services, which enforces stricter protocol against content showing self-harm, violence, abusive behavior and the like.  Katrina Hallare /ra

source: technology.inquirer.net

Study reveals gay discrimination in sports

SYDNEY, Australia—One in four gay men said they had received verbal threats of harm or had been bullied while participating in sports, and around 80 percent of people said they had witnessed such discrimination, according to a survey of 9,500 respondents.

The findings were contained in ‘Out on the Fields’, released Sunday, which officials said was the first international study and the largest conducted on discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual participants in sports.

The study, which also canvassed heterosexual respondents, surveyed nearly 3,000 people in Australia, 2,025 in the United States and 1,780 in Britain. The study was also conducted in Canada, New Zealand and Ireland.

It was initiated by organizers of the Bingham Cup, a gay rugby tournament held in Sydney last year.

The results from the on-line study were reviewed by seven academics from six universities, including Victoria University in Australia, Penn State University and the University of Massachusetts in the United States, Brunel University in Britain and the University of Winnipeg and Laval University in Canada.

The study also showed one in four gay men did not play youth team sports because of negative experiences in school physical education classes, or because they feared they would be rejected because of their sexuality.

It said 46 percent of all participants and 54 percent of gay men believe LGB people are “not accepted at all” or only “accepted a little” in sporting culture.

And 84 percent of gay men and 82 percent of lesbians in the study said they had received verbal slurs.

The study was open to anyone, although heterosexual participants were given fewer questions than lesbian, gay and bisexual participants. About 2,500 of the respondents were heterosexual.

In the United States, 55 percent of the 2,025 respondents were gay men. The U.S. ranked highest for discrimination in some areas, with 54 percent of participants there saying lesbian, gay and bisexual people in sports were accepted only slightly or not at all.

Openly gay former Wales rugby star Gareth Thomas said “this massive international study has cast a very bright and much-needed light” on the issue.

Former Australia rugby captain John Eales said that “as a father I was really disappointed to hear how widespread homophobia is in some parts of sport, especially the PE classes and spectator stands where so many kids learn how to behave.”

source: sports.inquirer.net