Steven Crowder has targeted journalist Carlos Maza with abuse, but YouTube seems to think it is all part of a healthy debate.

YouTube presents itself as a pro-LGBTQ platform, re-branding itself with rainbows every June and producing original content celebrating Pride. But producer and writer Carlos Maza has learned the hard way they talk a better talk than they walk, as the company is refusing to take action against a fellow YouTuber’s anti-gay and racist targeted harassment of him on its platform.

On May 30, Maza, who hosts Vox’s “Strikethrough” series, posted a compilation video of conservative troll Steven Crowder, who hides behind the comedian label despite his comedic shortcomings, attacking him time and again for being gay and Latino. Maza is of Cuban descent.

Since I started working at Vox, Steven Crowder has been making video after video "debunking" Strikethrough. Every single video has included repeated, overt attacks on my sexual orientation and ethnicity. Here's a sample: pic.twitter.com/UReCcQ2Elj — Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) May 31, 2019

In the compilation video, Crowder is seen, across multiple episodes, calling Maza a “lispy sprite,” a “little queer,” “an angry little queer,” and a “gay Mexican,” and using an anti-trans slur he is also fond of throwing around in his videos.

At one point, Crowder makes a motion mimicking performing oral sex on a man while mocking Maza. He is also wearing a shirt that reads, “Socialism is for f*gs” in some of the clips. Crowder sells the homophobic shirt, and even includes a link to it in the description of an “apology” video in which he further mocks those he has gone after in the past. Crowder also takes the opportunity to frame the situation as a broader attempt to censor conservative voices, playing the victim despite being the bully, a common far-right tactic.

YouTube responded on Twitter, saying it would look into the matter. On Tuesday night, however, the company said that “while we found language that was clearly hurtful, the videos as posted don’t violate our policies.” So the videos remain on the site, still fomenting racist and homophobic hatred against Maza and others.

Maza responded to the news with understandable upset.

If you’re an LGBT creator, @YouTube is using you. They’re trotting you out to convince advertisers that their platform hasn’t become a breeding ground for hate speech and bigotry. They’re hoping you’ll distract advertisers away from the monsters they’re creating. — Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 4, 2019

Vox also responded to the news with a statement, calling YouTube “broken in some ways that we can’t tolerate. By refusing to take a stand on hate speech, they allow the worst of their communities to hide behind cries of ‘free speech,’ and ‘fake news’ all while increasingly targeting people with the most offensive and odious harassment.”

Maza told The Washington Post the company contacted YouTube after he was doxxed and flooded with text messages telling him to debate Crowder. He said he also began personally reporting the videos. But nothing happened, an experience Maza calls “screaming into the ether.”

Finally, he said, something “snapped” in him and he decided to go public about the situation, in part because it was nearing the start of Pride Month, where YouTube would begin aligning itself with the LGBTQ community.

“It’s my worst nightmare,” Maza revealed. “Since this has happened I have caught myself being much more aware and self-critical about how I come across on camera.”

“Every time he posts a video making fun of me for being gay or Hispanic, I wake up to an avalanche of abuse on every single one of my social media platforms,” Maza told Buzzfeed’s AM2DM. “YouTube has specific policies against hate speech, bullying, and harassment that it just doesn’t enforce.”

.@gaywonk talks with #AM2DM about YouTube's harassment problem and why Steven Crowder is the platform's ideal user pic.twitter.com/sPuz7zbY9y — AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) June 4, 2019

When reached for comment, YouTube directed NewNowNext to its Twitter thread explaining its decision, while stressing that Crowder didn’t directly tell his fans to dox Maza and claimed the videos represented debate, not harassment.

(2/4) Our teams spent the last few days conducting an in-depth review of the videos flagged to us, and while we found language that was clearly hurtful, the videos as posted don’t violate our policies. We’ve included more info below to explain this decision: — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) June 4, 2019

(4/4) Even if a video remains on our site, it doesn’t mean we endorse/support that viewpoint. There are other aspects of the channel that we’re still evaluating– we’ll be in touch with any further updates. — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) June 4, 2019

This is not the first time YouTube has faced controversy regarding its LGBTQ creators. The company has been criticized in the past for restricting and demonitizing videos with LGBTQ themes. Last year, its “#ProudToCreate: Pride 2018” video was met with backlash from many of those who had experienced the censoring of their videos.

In related news, the company announced today, June 5, it would be removing “videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status.”

NewNowNext has reached out to Maza for comment, and this article will be updated if we receive a response.