NoHomophobes, a website aimed at exposing the use of "casual" homophobic language, tracks the number of times Twitter users type theses words and phrases in their tweets: faggot, so gay, no homo and dyke.
"Faggot" has appeared 2.9 million times, for example, since NoHomophobes.com began tracking tweets in July. The University of Alberta's Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services launched it Sept. 26.
Since then, more than 380,000 unique visitors have checked out the website, the institute's associate director Kristopher Wells tells Mashable. The site also has gained global media attention in countries including Australia, UK, India, Denmark, Canada and the United States.
The site's header reads, “Homophobic language isn't always meant to be hurtful, but how often do we use it without thinking?” The creators want people to speak out whenever they see or hear this type of language.
NoHomophobes.com also has a stream that displays the tweets in real-time. For data, users can filter statistics by today, this week and all time. This shows the volume of tweets from July 5 to Oct. 10:
People are using hashtag #NoHomophobes on Twitter to express their support for the site and its goal.
Tracking homophobia in society nohomophobes.com #NoHomophobes— Joelle Hatem (@joellehatem) October 9, 2012
Still shocked by this. Think before you speak. nohomophobes.com #NoHomophobes— Drew Alexander (@drwnelson) October 5, 2012
Genius site. Homophobic language isn't always meant to be hurtful, but it still can be. nohomophobes.com#NoHomophobes (via @vlpruitt)— Ben Slutzky (@syrBRS) October 9, 2012
"The response to the website has been phenomenal," Wells said Wednesday.