How Queer Commentator Matt Bernstein Fights Online Bigotry
In recent years Matt Bernstein (@Mattxiv) has emerged as a leading figure in the LGBTQ+ community on social media for their alluring blog-like Instagram account they use to highlight issues of online misogyny, homophobia, and other types of bigotry.In early August, Bernstein used his page to call out content creator Andrew Tate, writing, “Andrew Tate is teaching young boys to be violent misogynists.
It’s time for social media platforms to do something.” Included in their post were several examples of Tate’s behavior, including one video where he claims to prefer 18-year-old girls because they have “been through less dick” and “are easier to leave an imprint on.” In another video, Tate says he wouldn’t perform CPR on a man because he’s not gay.
In the last example in Matt’s post, Tate is asked by an interviewer if he thinks women are property; Tate responds, “I think my sister is her husband's property.”Within two hours, Bernstein says, their post began to gain a high amount of traffic. “Things get pretty crazy when you post something online, and it goes beyond your internet family,” Bernstein says.
In the hours following their post, Bernstein began to receive an onslaught of hateful comments and direct messages. “I’m very used to generating pushback, but these were very young straight men who I don’t usually deal with.” While the majority of the messages directed at Bernstein were riddled with hate speech, there were also some Tate fans coming to Tate's defense.“A comment I was getting a lot from his fans was ‘Yeah, some of the things [Tate] says are really extreme, and we don’t agree with them.
