Meta disables far-right Republican's Instagram after months of antigay, slur-filled posts

Meta has disabled the Instagram account of Valentina Gomez, a far-right former Republican candidate for Missouri Secretary of State, after months of posting antigay slurs, hate speech, and violent rhetoric. Gomez’s account, which had amassed around 90,000 followers, was taken down on Friday following repeated reports from advocacy organizations like GLAAD.

The suspension came after a series of videos in which Gomez repeatedly used an antigay slur.

“I can confirm that, due to frequent and repeated violations of Meta’s hate speech policies, we have disabled this account,” a Meta spokesperson told The Advocate.

One of the most recent videos, posted on September 17, saw Gomez complaining about X (formerly Twitter) demonetizing her account. In it, she continued her pattern of using hate speech, leading GLAAD to report the post to Instagram on September 18, a representative for GLAAD told The Advocate. It took Instagram about 72 hours to remove the video and then suspend her account entirely. According to a post by Gomez on X, her account was reinstated on Friday.

Gomez had been flagged numerous times for violating Meta’s hate speech policies. Between August and September, she posted at least 14 videos and comments containing slurs and inflammatory remarks against the LGBTQ+ community, GLAAD noted. Despite these clear violations, Meta had been slow to act, allowing her content to remain live for extended periods. Her suspension follows pressure from LGBTQ+ advocates and her growing reputation for using social media as a platform to spread hateful rhetoric.

Related: Anti-LGBTQ+ Republican trounced in Missouri Republican primary. Was it worth her brother’s cushy job?

Gomez’s posts frequently targeted the LGBTQ+ community, transgender people, WNBA star Brittney Griner, and other pro-LGBTQ+ public figures. In one widely condemned video, she burned LGBTQ-themed books with a flamethrower, declaring that such books should be destroyed to “protect children from groomers.” This language mirrors a baseless and harmful conspiracy theory that extremists often use to target the LGBTQ+ community.

In another video, she said, “Don’t be weak and gay.”

Her incendiary language also included slurs against LGBTQ+ athletes. In a recent video, she advocated for the creation of a separate “f****t category” in Olympic sports, disparaging transgender athletes in the process. In another post, Gomez referred to herself as “one of the most feared, respected, and loved women in American politics,” adding, “I put the fear of God in pedophiles, groomers, and corrupt politicians.”

The Republican's suspension came just over a month after she was soundly defeated in the Missouri Republican primary for secretary of state, where she placed sixth out of eight candidates.

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis criticized Meta for delayed action in a statement to The Advocate. “As part of our work to actively monitor accounts that spread anti-LGBTQ hate and misinformation, GLAAD has been urging Meta to address Valentina Gomez’s constant posting of hate, slurs, and threats of violence for months,” Ellis said. She added that platforms like X, Squarespace, and WordPress had previously taken steps to suspend or demonetize Gomez’s accounts, yet Meta had only now begun enforcing its hate speech policies. “Slow action, or at times no action at all, emboldens anti-LGBTQ activists to post increasingly extreme violent and dehumanizing content with the intent of inciting violence and hatred against our community,” Ellis warned.

Related: Missouri Republican's antigay slur-filled posts remain on Instagram despite violating Meta’s policies

The backlash against Gomez also had consequences for her family. Her brother, Jonathan Gomez-Noriega, an aide to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, was fired after his support for her campaign became public. Gomez-Noriega had also served on the city’s LGBTQ+ Task Force, a position that became untenable after it was revealed that he financially supported his sister’s campaign and failed to condemn her antigay rhetoric.

“It is unfortunate that it took Meta months, and multiple high-profile posts with anti-LGBTQ slurs and hate, to finally make good on fully enforcing its own hate speech policies for accounts like this,” Ellis said. “Hopefully this latest action is a sign that Meta will prioritize enforcing its policies when it comes to disgusting lies, slurs, and calls for violence against our community.”