Why We’re Leaving Twitter

After fourteen years on Twitter, the SF LGBT Center is officially deactivating our account beginning May 1, 2023. We’ve already been inactive on Twitter since Elon Musk acquired the social platform in October 2022 due to the spike in anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Black, and antisemitic tweets that ran rampant under the guise of his focus on bringing “free speech” back to the platform. 

Unfortunately, over the last few months, the Twitter landscape has progressively become unsafe for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people to engage in. Anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ tweets have skyrocketed, the harmful anti-LGBTQ+ ‘groomer’ narrative proliferating on Twitter has soared, and prominent anti-LGBTQ+ influencers like Andrew Tate, Marjorie Greene, and Benny Johnson received a larger share of voice on the platform. To add fuel to the fire, Elon recently promoted an incendiary anti-trans tweet about the recent Nashville Covenant School shooting from political columnist Benny Johnson, which is the latest in his string of transphobic tweets. He’s also ignored labor strikes from Twitter employees such as janitors and other building personnel, leaving thousands of people jobless to prioritize cost-cutting measures.

And we don’t see this ending. In February 2022, researchers from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate found that Twitter is on track to make up to $19 million a year from ads on just ten vitriolic anti-LGBTQ+ accounts reinstated by Elon Musk since he announced his general amnesty policy. 

Enough is enough. Our community’s safety is critical both in our bright purple building and on our digital platforms. This is a major leap, especially for smaller nonprofit organizations like ours that rely on social media as a tool to connect with community members. By taking this bold step forward, we want to make it clear that we don’t support the direction of the platform as it does not align with the Center’s core equity values, especially now that Elon’s made it incredibly unsafe for our communities to intentionally engage. Purposeful communication requires an honest and transparent dialogue in spaces that respect our lived experiences and honor safety.

We encourage peer organizations to join us in building digital neighborhoods outside of Twitter and are happy to support those looking to make a similar step forward.  

Don’t worry—you can still find us by signing up for our email newsletters and following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. And we’re growing on these platforms! Please help us share this update with community members, so they know to follow us on social media and reach us for support.

In community,
SF LGBT Center