The Censor Machine Hits Home

Meta took down one of my Facebook posts last night, saying it “violated community standards.” The post, with a link to a video of Ted and me cooking in our kitchen in Spain, featured a still shot of Ted with one hand on my shoulder.

Here’s the photo:

Shocking, I know! Anyone appalled by a pic of two men happily together in a kitchen in Spain? No … I didn’t think so.

When I changed the photo to a shot of tomatoes at the Alicante market where we had shopped that morning, the post was allowed to stay on my Facebook page.

Hmm … I can only conclude that it wasn’t the content of the blog about our day together in Spain that was offensive. It was the photo that did me in. Ted suggests that if a woman had been in the photo with him or me, no one would have said a word.

Think we’re being paranoid?

May I introduce Exhibit B: The recent permanent banishment of the magazine Presbyterian Outlook from Instagram, which is also owned by Meta. It’s like we’ve always said: When they start coming after the Presbyterians, look out. The denomination’s account of the incident, told quite eloquently at the link above, is chilling.

Anyway, I challenged Meta’s decision about my blog, and was informed a response could take as long as four days. I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, my thoughts continue to return to this: I see plenty of homoerotic reels and photos on Facebook that aren’t banned. So maybe it’s okay in Metaworld to suggest two guys are going to have sex with each other.

Boys will be boys, as they say. Maybe it’s the depiction of two men who love and care for each other that really disturbs people, not the sex. The caring is the crime.

Oh, wait … I’ve written a book about that.

The Way from Me to Us is available on Amazon and at bookstores everywhere. It hasn’t been banned from anyone’s list yet, at least not that I know of.

Or maybe I’m totally off base here. Maybe it’s the paring knife in Ted’s hand that violates the standards … the MAGA pack and their felon leader being so concerned about crime and all. Or maybe it was only some AI bot’s mistake.

But I doubt it.

My point is that the disastrous atmosphere in which we’re living makes it entirely likely that Meta’s leadership … and by extension, current United States Project 2025 leadership … is offended by my photo and wants it disappeared.

The fact that it’s even possible in “the land of the free” is a tragedy.

But it’s where we are today.

And it’s one of the reasons Ted and I are in Spain for six weeks, considering a possible move to this country where LGBTQ+ rights are no longer a topic of debate.

We’re here because anything back home, no matter how vile, senseless, or cruel, is possible.

Note: If you’ve posted anything online that got censored, I’d like to hear about it.