A recent report, “State of LGTBI+ Hate 2025-Hate Speeches in This study not only reveals the magnitude of the problem, but also exposes the tactics used to sow rejection and discrimination.
The Machinery of Hate: Bots and Specific Narratives
The investigation has discovered a worrying figure: 5.7% of the accounts that spread hate messages towards the LGTBIQ+ community could be bots, tripling the average proportion of automated accounts in X. This suggests a coordinated campaign, designed to amplify hate speech and create a distorted perception of reality.
The analysis also details how each identity within the LGTBIQ+ community is attacked in a particular way:
- Gais: They are offensively feminized, but at the same time accused of being sexist, a contradiction that seeks to delegitimize their identity.
- Lesbians: They are designated as “degenerates”, a term that seeks to stigmatize their sexual orientation.
- Bisexual people: They are hypersexualized, reducing their identity to a mere object of desire.
- Trans people: They are portrayed as a “threat to childhood”, a dangerous narrative that seeks to generate fear and social rejection.
Despite these differences, all messages share a common objective: the pathologization and dehumanization of LGTBIQ+ people. Their human condition and fundamental rights are denied, legitimizing and normalizing the rejection. What does this tell us about the ease with which certain discourses can take root in the collective imagination, even when they lack basis?
“Paguita” and the Criminalization of Social Advances
The report also highlights how hate speech attacks the protection and recognition measures of the group, especially the LGTBI+ Law. A recurring term is “paguita”, used to criminalize social advances and mark LGTBIQ+ people as “public enemies” who receive benefits without contributing to society.
María Rodríguez, head of research, training and quality at the LGTBI+ State Federation, emphasizes that this research demonstrates an organized strategy that “places in the social imagination a narrative in which LGTBI+ people receive favored treatment”. This, in turn, “condemns social advances that pursue equal opportunities and rights”. Moral disqualification becomes a weapon to dehumanize, making “what is not human does not deserve rights, so that hatred seems legitimate,” Rodríguez adds.
The Repercussions of Online Hate: From the Internet to the Street
Mireia Belda, 40dB analyst, explains that the study was based on X publications between May 28 and July 10, 2025, analyzing hate speech to identify predominant narratives and how conversations are organized.
Paula Iglesias, president of the LGTBI+ State Federation, warns about the danger of these narratives: “hatred translates into violence in the streets against real LGTBI+ people, with names and surnames”. Hoaxes and malicious messages “create a breeding ground that directly causes attacks, insults, intimidation, harassment and discrimination.”
Given this panorama, Iglesias has demanded the “urgent approval of a State Pact against Hate Speeches towards Groups in Vulnerable Situations” with an economic contribution that guarantees effective measures. In addition, it demands that Spain adopt the European DSA law, which explicitly prohibits the spread of hate on social networks and is mandatory from 2022.
It is crucial to understand that this phenomenon is not limited to X. Iglesias points out that the same hate strategies and messages are replicated on other social networks such as Instagram and TikTok.
It’s time to reflect: what role do each of us play in the fight against online hate and how can we build a safer and more respectful digital and physical space for all?
