After Facebook added the pride reaction on its platform, conservative Christian groups had since called out the Palo Alto Internet firm, not to remove it but to add a Crucifix button as well. Facebook, unfortunately, had just rejected the request of the Christian campaigners.
Facebook's conservative Christian community is dismayed after the management denied its appeal to add the Crucifix reaction button to the platform. This request came after the social media giant included the rainbow flag in the reaction button last month in honour of the LGBTQ community.
"We believe in building a platform that supports all communities," states Facebook. "So we're celebrating love and diversity this Pride by giving you a special reaction."
While the button is only available in select countries, conservative Christians are clearly not happy by Facebook's move. They, however, were not asking to take it down but want a Crucifix reaction added instead.
Facebook user Hikmat Hanna posted on 24 June a photo showing the render of the said button. Fountain Hills, Arizona-based evangelist Joshua Feuerstein, a well-known critic of gay marriage in the US, shared Hikmat's photo a day after.
Later, the photo took Facebook by storm, garnering more than 28,000 reactions, over 9,000 shares, and 2,200 comments. While the reactions are dominated by "Like" and "Love", comments were filled with hate speech and many of them were homophobic.
But members and defenders of the LBGTQ community refused to take a step back. "OK so by that logic there should be one for Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and all other religions," states the top comment. "Stop feeling persecuted, because it's not like they have reactions for all faiths except Christianity."
In an email to The Huffington Post, Facebook admitted that the suggested button has not been on the radar and they are not working on it yet. This could well mean that they may consider such button down the line.
In 2015, Feuerstein was blatant to film a video of him ordering a cake from a Florida bakery. The cake has text saying, "We do not support gay marriage."
