FRANCE: Gay Rights Group To Sue Twitter Over “Gays Must Die” Hashtag

France’s English-language The Local reports:

Shocked French Twitter users and gay rights groups have reacted angrily to the emergence of the hashtag “#LesGaysDoiventDispaîratreCar” (“Gay people must die/disappear because”), that trended over the weekend. The organisation SOS Homophobie, which fights anti-gay speech and violence, has launched a parallel campaign online, encouraging users to point out and report instances of the phrase. The French committee of IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia), announced on Monday that it would be filing a legal complaint against the US-based microblogging site for allowing “the diffusion of a call for hatred against gay people.” “This is a completely blatant call for the death and murder of gay people. It is totally unacceptable,” Alexandre Marcel from IDAHO told The Local.

The Local notes that a second popular hastag, “All Gays Must Burn,” began appearing yesterday.