Arts+Culture / NewsGrown men freaked out by ‘gay’ Twitter heartsA change from the star icon to a love-heart predictably opened the homophobic floodgatesShareLink copied ✔️November 4, 2015Arts+CultureNewsText Hannah Rose Ewens What’s more “gay” than a symbol for love, eh? A little heart. The unofficial global online shortcut to expressing your affection and appreciation for something since the Myspace days <3 and beyond. A way to show you value that person and what they have to say. A cartoon icon for the muscular organ which pumps blood through each of our circulatory systems. But apparently a heart is so blatantly, outrageously homosexual that the thought of “hearting” someone’s tweet is repulsive to some. Yesterday, Twitter changed the way we favourite tweets from a star icon to a heart, something that actually no-one really liked. But it was the small-minded homophobes who crawled out of the woodwork who expressed their distain so loudly. Comments ranged from the heart being straight up “gay” to the act of using the heart automatically branding you a “faggot”. Twitter is now bebo with this heart faggot shit, this is the result of letting gay people have rights idc— Chuy Ramirez (@ShubzBristol) November 3, 2015Don't heart my tweets nigga FOH I ain't no faggot— Dame (@DameIsDead) November 4, 2015If you a dude and you heart one of my tweets you're pretty much a faggot— JustTrynaNig (@JustTrynaNig) November 3, 2015I'm never pressing this heart button in my life tbh am no faggot— Chananoglu (@Chana9MUFC) November 3, 2015U "heart" another nigga tweet u a faggot— Trill Jackson (@Im_0n1) November 3, 2015 All these tweets suck. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.TrendingNude awakening: Meet the young people embracing naturismAt a time of toxic beauty standards and widespread body image issues, could taking your clothes off around strangers (in a non-sexual way) be the answer?BeautyBeauty10 of the hottest Instagram accounts fusing art, sex and eroticaOakley FashionGoing ‘field mode’ with Roger ScottMusicN0rth4evr: Every track on North West’s new EP, rankedLife & Culture‘She was secretly the landlord’: Readers on their housemate horror storiesLife & Culture‘Chat was my backbone’: People are now using AI for awkward conversationsArt & PhotographyThe most loved photo stories of April 2026FashionTechno-fascist fashion: Why Silicon Valley is moving into menswearFilm & TVWhat do sex workers actually think of Euphoria?Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy