‘Flood the feed’ with love and queer joy: campaign calls for social media support for LGBTQI+ community

Social media are vital spaces for many LGBTQIA+ people: places to connect, to be visible, and to find support. Yet, these same platforms are often unsafe, filled with negativity and hate, with little intervention from the companies that run them.

That’s why çavaria is launching ‘Flood the Feed‘, a campaign to flood social media with waves of support, love, and queer joy. The initiative encourages everyone to join an Instagram broadcast channel, by registering, to receive updates and links to posts that could use a boost of positivity.

Participants can react with a simple heart, a cute meme, or a kind compliment. Inspiration for responses is provided at the bottom of the campaign page. There’s no pressure on frequency: liking something occasionally or engaging more often. Every bit helps.

How to join?

Those interested can register. After signing up, they’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to the Instagram broadcast channel, where the action unfolds.

The first wave of positivity launches on 12 May, during the week of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT or IDAHOT) and Brussels Pride. The campaign has no end date; its goal is to build a network of allies committed to spreading support and positivity year-round.

Ready-made responses

For those needing inspiration, the campaign offers a list of emojis and short responses to copy and paste:

Emojis:

• Campaign emojis: 🌊🌈📱
• Other fun options: ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💖✨🌷🌟🤩🫶🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🥳🎊🥂🦄🔥⚡✊🦾

Replies:

• “So awesome!”
• “Very brave!”
• “Sending so much love for this! 🌊🌈📱”
• “Beautifully said!”
• “Lovely message! 🌊🌈📱”
• “Keep shining! ✨”
• “Thank you for sharing your story!”
• “So great to see this on my feed! 🏳️‍⚧️”

Reporting hate

Encountering hate messages? Report them to the platform or to Unia, Belgium’s anti-discrimination body. Unia’s ‘trusted flagger‘ status ensures priority handling of reports. Hate speech—defined as incitement to discrimination, hatred, or violence based on characteristics like origin, belief, sexual orientation, disability, or skin colour, is illegal.

Uncertain if something qualifies as hate speech? More information is available here.

Political pressure

Beyond ‘Flood the Feed’, çavaria continues to push politicians and social media platforms to take responsibility. Platforms like Meta are criticised for inadequate moderation and, in some cases, removing or blocking accounts of queer organisations. 

Politically, çavaria urges lawmakers to reform legislation so that hate speech targeting LGBTQI+ individuals can be effectively prosecuted. Currently, such cases are classified as ‘press offences‘ under Article 150 of the Belgian Constitution, making prosecution nearly impossible in practice.

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