The F Word

My name is Frank Anthony Polito. I'm a Brooklyn-based playwright and author of the novel BAND FAGS!, released in June 2008 from Kensington Books. BAND FAGS! has since been named "Best Fiction" by the InsightOut Book Club, and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. It has received critical praise in such national publications as The Advocate, and Instinct Magazine, and I have been interviewed on national radio programs on the Sirius Network.

Like any other emerging author, I created a fan page on Facebook to help promote my book and connect with readers at www.facebook.com/bandfags To date, I have amassed a good 200 fans, who I have kept in contact with over the past almost two years.

Tonight, when I logged onto my Facebook account, I received the following warning: You created a Page that has violated our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening, or obscene are not allowed. We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorized individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook's features could result in the permanent loss of your account.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit the Terms applicable to Facebook Pages at http://www.facebook.com/terms_pages.php.

And voila! My BAND FAGS! a novel fan page has been REMOVED from Facebook!

While I understand that the word "fag" is offensive to some individuals, I find it ridiculous for Facebook to deem my fan page a "violation" of terms without further looking into matters. This is clearly a violation against me as a gay author.

I would contact Facebook with regards to this matter, but they make it next to impossible to contact them regarding ANYTHING on their site.

Frank Anthony Polito
Brooklyn, NY