The Dark Side of Visibility: Hostile Social Media Responses to LGBTQIA+ Research and Implications for Researchers

Over the past thirty years, there has been growing recognition of the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals, coupled with an increase in legislative attacks worldwide. This has heightened scrutiny and stigma for LGBTQIA+ communities and scientists, particularly on social media platforms. Here, we investigate the nature of homotransphobic comments directed at LGBTQIA+ researchers and recruitment ads through topic modeling and sentiment analysis. We collected 994 comments from social media recruitment ads posted between January 2024 and May 2024. Our analysis identified three main themes: transitions and health, confrontational language, and ideological debates, with an overall negative sentiment across all topics. This study highlights the significant hostile environment faced by LGBTQIA+ researchers, underscoring the need for supportive measures and policies to foster a more inclusive and respectful discourse. These findings provide critical insights into the impact of online harassment on LGBTQIA+ research and offer recommendations for institutional support and public awareness to mitigate these negative sentiments.