A global online storm is in full force with thousands of LGBT+ people telling to Twitter to detail the homophobia they have experienced using the hashtag #MeQueer.

Comments ranged from criticism of media representation to descriptions of assault.

“Nearly crying because you saw yourself represented in a tv show for the first time,” wrote @LizKilljoy.

“Being beaten so hard that your nose bleeds like hell for just coming out as trans to your dad,” tweeted @homolordt.

The #MeQueer movement has been inspired by the #MeToo movement which highlighted the sexism and sexual violence.

Hartmut Schrewe, a Brandenburg-based writer, first used the #MeQueer hashtag on August 13.

“My husband is my husband and not my buddy. #Homophobia#MeQueer,” he tweeted.

Schrewe told Reuters by email on Wednesday that he had been moved to act by a telephone conversation between his husband and a colleague in which Schrewe was described as his partner’s “buddy.”

“I had had enough,” he said. “I wrote about this on Twitter and then the hashtag went viral.”

Schrewe said he was overwhelmed by the response, with posts pouring in from around the world.

“It is wonderful that so many queer people have shared their experiences,” he said. “We need to be more visible and loud. I hope this can reach Uganda, where being queer can kill you, or countries like Russia, Indonesia, Iran or Turkey, where being queer is so dangerous.

“I never expected #MeQueer to get so big.”

Hate Crime On The Rise

In recent months Ireland has seen a surge in crimes against the LGBT+ community. In the weeks leading up to the Dublin Pride parade, there was a vicious assault on a young gay couple in Laois, who was beaten by a gang of thugs with hurls.

‘Burning Issues 2’ revealed that a Hate Crime law is now the number one priority for the LGBT+ community in post-marriage equality Ireland.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties released a report last month showing Ireland has one of the highest rates of hate crime against those from an African background and transgender people in the EU, but no laws to address it.

Executive Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Liam Herrick said: “This report identifies significant gaps in Irish law, policy and criminal justice practice around how we respond to the problem of hate crime.”