Do you have freedom of speech? I don’t.
I started using Facebook in 2007. My life partner’s sister-in-law signed up for Facebook a few years later and immediately started telling me what to do. The first thing she did was send me an email telling me that I can’t use a cartoon as my profile picture. I was shocked that she had the nerve to tell me what I can do on my own Facebook page. Then she told me that I wasn’t allowed to post any gay rights issues. I was gobsmacked that she would tell me that because again, it’s MY wall.
To keep things neutral, I put a restriction on her and all of her family members, including a few of my own family members just in case. If they don’t want to see certain things then I won’t shove it down their throats by allowing them to see it. In return, they shove their religion down my throat every time they post religious stuff on their page. Sounds fair, right? That was sarcasm by the way.
Yesterday I woke up and found this in my inbox.
I was in shock again because everything that I had posted that was offensive to her was properly hidden, or so I thought. Apparently on her new tablet using mobile Facebook, she can see EVERYTHING! Not just the posts that I had shared and hidden but also all of my likes. If I went through the list of posts on the Facebook “home” page and started clicking the like button, she saw all of those likes. That means if I clicked like on “Have a Gay Day” she saw it and apparently that is so offensive to her that she just couldn’t stand looking at her own Facebook page because she was inundated with pro-gay stuff.
I went on a rant on Facebook yesterday saying if you don’t want to see my pro-gay shit then unfriend me, and she saw that too even after I unfriended her. I had to unfriend her and her whole family and then block each one of them so none of them would see anything that might be offensive to them. My book is also offensive to them.
Normally I would say this is MY life and if you don’t like it then hit the bricks, but this is my life partner’s family here, I can’t be a jerk to them because that would put a huge strain on our relationship, it already has. So to build a bridge, I had to create a whole new Facebook page specifically for them to follow. That means I will not be allowed to do anything. I won’t be able to “Like” any gay Facebook pages or “Like” any pro-gay posts, heck I won’t be able to “Like” a status update from anyone out of fear that I am offending one person.
I am trying to be nice here and not cuss, but it’s very difficult. I have already censored the F-word four times now.
So why am I telling you good people? Because I am putting a warning out there for you all. If you have fundamental born again Christian family members and/or in/outlaws, you are sharing too much stuff that they clearly don’t want to see. Not that you have to care, but I’m just letting you know because I’m sure you don’t want to put a strain on your relationship with those people.
My life partner refuses to get on Facebook for this very reason. I have thought about leaving Facebook many times, but I refuse to be silenced. I want my voice to be heard, not just on my regular Facebook wall but also my books Facebook page. My freedom of speech should not be limited, even though it has been, but to make up for the censorship, I am going to be even more vocal about my right to free speech and gay rights and equality because that is what I am passionate about. I don’t give a flying… leap about what other people think of me, I am GAY and I am not going AWAY! I’m here, I’m queer, GET FUCKING USED TO IT!
Yeah, I say that now, but then I go to that one Facebook page with my tail tucked between my legs and post pictures of kittens and puppies… My balls have been removed and my fundie outlaw is wearing them as earrings.
I am 42 years old and I am not just being bullied, but I’m being cyberbullied by my own family. Isn’t that a kick in the pants?
Diary of a Gay Nerd 
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