Facebook appear to have today taken down a ‘community’ set up for the express purpose of mocking Leelah Alcorn and urging trans people to kill themselves.

However, this did not happen until after Gay Star News made senior managers aware of its existence, as over the last 24 hours, Facebook moderators have persistently claimed the page was entirely acceptable to Facebook’s community standards.

Warning: Some of what follows is distressing, particulaly the link to the hate group’s page.

The Facebook community page was titled ‘Go truck yourself’, a clear reference to the fact that trans teen Leelah Alcorn died after being run over by a truck. The page address includes the term ‘nomoredegenerates’.

The page contains multiple images associated with death. The comment ‘Go truck yourself’, is printed directly over a picture of Leelah Alcorn.

There are also many other insults directed at the trans community. In a comment that combines racism with transphobia, the page’s author writes: ‘You Marxists freak out when a mutant degenerate an heros itself under a truck.’ (sic)

There is also reference to ‘the Holocahoax’ and ‘muh 6 gorillion chosen ones’.

However, when trans users of Facebook, some highly distressed by this content, reported the page, they were sent a standard response, telling them Facebook ‘reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found it doesn’t violate our “Community Standards”’.

As a direct result the page owner then posted: ‘Man… All that reporting and you still can’t take me down? You degenerates are pathetic. You’re all a bunch of pussies.’

This remained so until an hour after this Gay Star News reporter contacted Facebook and asked them to respond to questions about why they were continuing to host this page.

Facebook have not yet provided any official comment as to why they consider such material does not breach hate speech guidelines. However, they do have a fairly checkered history on removal of hate speech and incitement to violence.

Over the last decade they have frequently removed entire pages and communities for hosting pictures showing breastfeeding. However, on more than one occasion, sites calling for violence against LGBTI minorities or against women have been classed as acceptable on the grounds they might be considered humour.

In the last week, Facebook has been criticized for its refusal to remove Islamophobic material and similar hate speech.

Community activists are concerned pages of this kind are part of a wider backlash brought on by sympathy for Leelah.

One group, using internet anonymity as a cover for their activity has been actively celebrating the suicide of trans individuals, and urging its members to phone trans support hotlines, including those dedicated to preventing suicide, in order to block them.

There have since been reports from the United States of trans hotlines being blocked as a result, with time and resource being taken up by people whose primary aim is to prevent suicidal trans people from obtaining help and support.