Lesbian couple slams Facebook after it bans video of them touching foreheads

A lesbian couple in the UK has slammed Facebook for rejecting a video they posted of themselves gently touching their foreheads for its “sexually explicit adult content,” according to a report.

Singer-songwriter Sera Golding-Young, 36, and her wife Frankie, 32, posted the video as a sponsored ad for a new album – but it was banned under the social media giant’s “Objectionable Content” clause, which forbids nudity or sexual activity, the Cavendish Press News reported.

“This ad isn’t running because it can’t promote adult services or products that highlight sexual pleasure,” Facebook’s message read.

“Ads must not contain adult content including nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative,” it added.

The couple said Facebook did not object later when they posted the same clip and copy — but using a heterosexual couple in a similar pose.

“I understand that Facebook can mistakenly reject things sometimes, but when I saw the explanation, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Golding-Young, of Guildford, Surrey, told the news outlet.

“I assumed it had to be a mistake, so we sought multiple appeals and re-submitted the ad several times, but each time we received the same rejection message,” she said.

“We had to wrack our brains to figure out what could have possibly been so explicit about our content. We eventually realized it might, sadly, be the image of us together,” Golding-Young added.

“It’s a romantic image of us with our foreheads touching, and we use this for all our profile photos across all platforms because we believe it’s a beautiful, artistic shot of two people in love.”

The couple — who founded the rock group Unsung Lily in 2012 — posted the clip when they lost money after the coronavirus pandemic forced music venues to close, the outlet reported.

The video invited fans to join a page that would allow them to view the behind-the-scenes of the creation of the new album.

“When we talked about what happened on our social pages, many of our friends and fans shared our outrage,” Golding-Young said.

“Some people even came up with possible explanations for why the advert was rejected. These ideas included theories such as Facebook prohibiting intimacy of any kind in advertisements, but if that was the case, it should have rejected the advert which showed a romantic shot of the heterosexual couple, too,” she said.

“As members of the LGBTQ community, we know how important it is to see ourselves represented and reflected in the media. Visibility can save lives, particularly for transgender people, LGBTQ people of color and youth,” Golding-Young continued.

“Women are often over-sexualized, and female couples even more so. Two women in love, gently resting their foreheads together is romantic – not sexual. By rejecting images like this, Facebook is reinforcing the hyper-sexualization of women and female couples,” she said.

“Facebook is a platform which claims to connect people, so why does their platform silence these voices and prevent us from connecting with our communities? Facebook has a responsibility to represent everyone in a fair and just manner.”

Golding-Young contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, which contacted Facebook about the matter.

“Facebook replied claiming the ads were rejected ‘incorrectly’ and assured us that the rejection had nothing to do with the LGBTQ content, but rather the dancing in the video,” she told the outlet.

“They would not explain why the advert with the exact same dancing but with a heterosexual couple was accepted in our tests,” she said.

“We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content,” Facebook’s community page says.

“Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content. Restrictions on the display of sexual activity also apply to digitally created content unless it is posted for educational, humorous, or satirical purposes.”

The Post has reached out to Facebook for a comment.