I run into this constantly on Facebook! I don't use Instagram, but I think most of the policies are the same between the platforms.

When I say I "run into this," I mean in the LGBTQ sense. I write articles on Medium about LGBTQ issues, and I run a publication to amplify queer voices.

We promote all our stories on various social media, including Facebook. And as you might imagine, we get a lot of seriously nasty comments.

Just the other day, and this is nothing at all new, somebody followed all of our posts around, quoting a Bible verse that calls for death to gay people.

Death.

They were a little more circumspect than some, not adding any personal commentary. I reported all the comments. Facebook left every single one of them up. Just like always — just like in hundreds of similar incidents I've seen over the years — Even when commenters personally endorsed the biblical suggestion of death to queers.

Another thing that I've learned over the years, is that Facebook requires us to bend over and take it.

They won't remove posts calling for death to LGBTQ people, but if we react by calling them idiots, or religious fanatics, or bigots, or what have you — then we're the ones dinged with a community standards violation.

I'll never forget the time a few years ago when a celebrated lesbian activist, a pop singer from Lebanon, died unexpectedly.

Her fan base reacted with tears and memorial sites all over social media, including Facebook.

On Facebook, memorial posts about this beloved singer were met with swarms of vicious comments, swarms of people saying they were glad that she died, that she had it coming, and that all queer people should die with her.

And plenty of verses from Quran backing up that hatred.

I helped organize a campaign for hundreds of people to complain to Facebook, all but begging them to take down those calls for death.

Facebook utterly ignored us. They didn't take down a single post.

But guess what else they did? And I know you won't be surprised. They suspended or banned many queer people for directly reacting to those calls for death.

This is just how it is. Facebook/Instagram do not uphold published community standards when it comes to members of marginalized minorities.

They don't even pretend to.

I've been experiencing that for years, and I'm really sad that you've had to experience the same thing.

Solidarity!