I noticed the algorithm pause myself, even though I don’t participate in politics on Facebook. Facebook counts LGBTQ as a social issue, and two very large LGBTQ Facebook groups I help administer have seen membership requests plummet in the last couple of days.

We were quite confused at first, not understanding what was going on. Hearing about the algorithm pause explains what’s happening, but does not make it right.

We LGBTQ people are sick and tired of being treated as if our identities and lives reduce to politics, as if our lives are so controversial that merely talking about them among ourselves counts as a political act.

Facebook and other social media treat us in other ways as controversial as well, and this needs to stop.

I’m not opposed to Facebook’s algorithm pause in general. But I insist that an upcoming election does not make my life and other LGBTQ people’s lives subject to big tech suppression.