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Old Facebook Group Gone, New One Established and Awards Show Set For Feb. 27, 2025
By Jet de la Isla – A Fabulous Gay in Puerto Vallarta
[You can join the new gay Facebook group, just click here].
As I sip my morning coffee, orchids blooming at my table, the ocean stretching wide in an opaque sapphire blue out my window, I watch as whales breach the surface, their misty exhales blending with the breeze. And in this tranquil paradise, I feel it—a snap. A shift in reality. A nightmare I’ve finally woken up from.
No one mourns the wicked.
At least, that’s what Elphaba sings in Wicked, and honey, today, I feel like we’ve been cast as the villain in a Broadway tragedy—except the production is being directed by Mark Zuckerberg himself, and the entire cast is being played by an algorithm with the emotional depth of my Roomba.
Our Facebook group—the gay Facebook group—was shut down overnight. And when I say the Facebook group, I mean the most successful, most influential, most fabulous, most deliciously chaotic gay networking hub in Puerto Vallarta. A group that has done more community-building than an entire season of RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked.
A group that has reconnected lost lovers, sought to find a misplaced Gucci shoe (priorities, hunny), launch the mixers, charity events, city council collaborations, and—yes, I’ll say it—helped make me an influencer.
And now? Gone. Just like that.
So let’s break this down chronologically, because, girl, this wasn’t just some random internet glitch. This was a full-scale algorithmic witch hunt.
Act 1: The First Strike
The first time Facebook suspended us was in December 2024—right before New Year’s Eve. Because why wouldn’t they time their mass extermination of digital joy at the peak of holiday season?
And the reason? Human trafficking.
Now, before you clutch your pearls, let me explain.
Our group had always been a place where local businesses could promote their services, including masseurs offering massages. Because let’s be clear: in Puerto Vallarta, massage therapy is legal, respected, and in demand. But apparently, Facebook’s AI doesn’t understand nuance. It flagged all massage-related posts as human trafficking.
Massages? Human trafficking?
Baby, make it make sense.
But fine. Fine.
We adjusted. We complied. We stopped allowing masseurs to post their services. We, the dutiful moderators—Randy, Chad, and I—took on the role of algorithm whisperers, approving and declining posts with the precision of Marie Kondo decluttering a closet.
We thought we were safe.
Act 2: The Algorithm Strikes Back
Then, weeks later, another suspension.
But this time, Facebook wasn’t flagging new posts—oh no, honey. They had decided to go full 1984, digging through years of archived content to find offenses we didn’t even know existed anymore.
Imagine getting arrested today for a traffic violation you committed in 2021. That’s the kind of absurdity we were dealing with.
So there we were, spending days manually deleting thousands of posts—because Facebook’s algorithm had decided to retroactively apply its arbitrary rules.
And just when we thought we’d scrubbed ourselves clean—BAM! Another hit.
This time, it was one specific member’s post. Except—and this is the part that made us scream into our sequined pillow—we couldn’t find this person.
They didn’t appear in our members list.
We couldn’t search for their posts.
There was no way to remove them.
And yet, Facebook kept using their posts as the reason for every single suspension we appealed.
It was like trying to fight a ghost. A very annoying, bureaucratic, algorithmic ghost.
Act 3: The Final Curtain Call
Now, here we are.
Like I mentioned we appealed the first suspension, and it worked. The group came back. But this time? There’s no appeal option. No buttons to click. No customer service. No Mark Zuckerberg hotline to call.
Just silence.
And me, sitting at my window, channeling Elphaba flying high above Oz, screaming that no one mourns the wicked.
Because, let’s be real, Facebook doesn’t care.
They don’t care about the community we built, the businesses we boosted, the charities we fundraised for, or the friends we made along the way.
All they care about is that an AI overlord decided we broke some vague, selectively enforced rule, and now our digital empire is dust.
The Show Must Go On
But let’s be clear about one thing:
The community is still here.
We’re not just a Facebook group.
We’re not just a bunch of posts and likes and comments.
We are real people, real connections, real experiences.
And so, the Puerto Vallarta Gays: Best Of Awards 2024 will go on.
Yes, honey, the votes are in.
The committee is set—Alison Lo, John Ramsey, and Phillip Weir are helping me tabulate the results.
The event is happening.
Because we make this community, not Facebook.
And if I have to build another group from scratch or pass the baton, so be it.
If I have to start a website, a podcast, a damn gay pirate boat tour radio station, so be it.
Because Jet de la Isla is not going anywhere.
And neither is this fabulous, messy, joyful, chaotic, supportive, ridiculous, glorious gay community.
The show must go on.
And baby, it’s going to be fun and fabulous as always.
Award Ceremony
See you all on February 27th at Industry for a special 6-8 PM mixer award ceremony, where we’ll come together to honor and celebrate the incredible hard work and dedication that keeps our community thriving year-round. Join us for this exclusive meet-and-greet, proudly hosted by Out & About PV and Puerto Vallarta Gays!
A call for support
In the meantime, if you have a direct human connection at Facebook or Facebook Groups, please reach out—this might be our only shot at resolving this mess.
Esta publicación también está disponible en: English Español
