“Faggot”. “Poof”. That’s what Google Translate suggests when you type the word “gay.” 500 million people use Google Translate every month. That’s a lot of people being taught hateful words and insults.
Google is listening out for feedback this week, as they just launched a new version of their translation app. Google already has the technology to filter out hateful language: typing “female” doesn’t throw up sexist words.
The LGBT rights group Allout.org is running a campaign to gather signatures to change that, and we think it’s a good thing!
Go here to ask Google – known as a pro-equality company – to remove anti-gay slurs from its translation.
Translating from English into Spanish, French or Portuguese, the web version of Google Translate throw up insults like “faggot”, “poof”, “fairy” and “dyke”. These words are given as synonyms for “homosexual”, “gay” or “lesbian”.
Google has a pretty good record on equality. They pulled an anti-gay game from their app store and have even run campaigns against anti-gay laws around the world. So there’s a high chance they’ll prioritise fixing their anti-gay Google Translate if they hear from thousands of people who aren’t happy with that.
This isn’t just about political correctness gone mad. Degrading language feeds negative attitudes and stereotypes. And anti-gay slurs can lead to bullying and attacks on lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. So let’s make sure Google doesn’t promote anti-gay slurs.
