Is the era of internet trolls coming to an end?

Joe Rogan's latest comedy show was released on Netflix this month. In between aliens and his grandfather's final wishes, Rogan had time to slip in some racist, transphobic, and homophobic bits to land some jokes.

"I'm glad you guys laughed," he says towards the end. "Because my wife didn't think any of the shit I just said was funny."

I have to agree with the Mrs.

For about an hour, Rogan looked like the "cool" uncle at the party, sharing wild stories, telling outdated and offensive jokes while holding a beer, and laughing extra hard at his own takes.

The funny thing is… he's just not funny. And I'mnot the only one who feels this way.

Rogan is the latest of personalities leveraging old-fashioned transphobia and homophobia to build a new fanbase. Take aspiring "politician" Valentina Gomez, for example, who spent the tail-end of her campaign uploading content geared at bashing LGBTQ+ people. She went as far as posting videos using gay slurs in the hope the shock would somehow turn into votes in her primary run for Missouri's Secretary of State.

Gomez ended up in sixth place.

Lately, it seems like the transphobes and homophobes just aren't hitting like they used to. Take J.K. Rowling and others who attacked following Imane Khelif, hoping to get another win in their “transvestigations” but discovering Khelif is a cisgender woman. Some had to backtrack on their claims; others tried to dive into chromosomes, and a few tried to uphold presumed tests run by a Russian-based organization banned by the IOC. And in an exciting turn of events, anti-trans netizens began attacking their own beloved figures, accusing the likes of Andrew Tate and Kyle Rittenhouse of being transgender.

Attacks by the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate toward their opponents' records on LGBTQ+ rights don't seem to get people riled up like they used to. Meanwhile, the Republicans have gradually backtracked — or, at least, not being outwardly anti-LGBTQ+—- as they've changed their wording around their stance on marriage,according to NBC. Though some see it as the party simply not saying the quiet part out loud, others, like the Log Cabin Republicans, see it as the gradual shift in their party's long stance against same-sex marriage.

Over the past few years, we’ve been oversaturated with vitriol. Perhaps it’s not fazing us anymore. Rage bait isn’t as interesting or — dare I say it — as fashionable as it used to be. We just don’t want to engage with it. People are tired of trying to call the likes of Rogan, Rowling and other phobic peddlers “in” to hold them accountable and, instead, call them out.

They’re just plain weird.

Transphobes and homophobes were like trolls in some corner of the internet, making offensive posts or memes; the more offensive, the likelier it would get traction. Now, we see them for who they really are: fickle, weak folks with little to no substance, spewing hate for attention.

There's another conversation as to why hate peddlers are platformed on social media and streaming networks. But for now, the power of rage baiters and hatemongers over us seems to become weaker by the day.

Folks, the tide is turning.

Marie-Adélina de la Ferrière is the Community Editor at equalpride, publisher of Pride.com.

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