Absolute scenes – great ones.
Gay men have taken over the #ProudBoys hashtag on Twitter, sharing messages of love and support for members of the LGBTQ community.
The hashtag, usually reserved for the fair-right, neo-fascist group who Trump recently refused to condemn, is now flooded with images and messages depicting LGBTQ love. And more specifically, gay men who are proud of their sexuality.
The move was kicked off by Star Trek’s George Takei last week, who suggested that the community begin sharing photos of themselves “doing very gay things” to take control of the hashtag.
“I wonder if the BTS and TikTok kids can help LGBTs with this,” he wrote on Twitter. “What if gay guys took pictures of themselves making out with each other or doing very gay things, then tagged themselves with #ProudBoys. I bet it would mess them up real bad. #ReclaimingMyShine.”
And so, they did. For the past few days, #ProudBoys has been dominated by gay men in loving gay relationships doing, as George suggested, “very gay things.”
Brad and I are #ProudBoys, legally married for 12 years now. And we’re proud of all of the gay folks who have stepped up to reclaim our pride in this campaign. Our community and allies answered hate with love, and what could be better than that. pic.twitter.com/GRtSH1ijQ8
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 4, 2020
“Brad and I are #ProudBoys, legally married for 12 years now,” said Takei. “And we’re proud of all of the gay folks who have stepped up to reclaim our pride in this campaign.
“Our community and allies answered hate with love, and what could be better than that.”
Well, that certainly blew up. 😂 Have you posted your #ProudBoys photo yet, friends? pic.twitter.com/VGqUc8ORlA
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 5, 2020
It wasn’t long before the tag went viral, and thousands of Proud Boys (the good kind) were sharing their stories of love.
Among them were Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk, a substantial number of drag queens, and many, many others.
Look at these cute lil #ProudBoys (#retweet and make this hashtag about love, not hate) pic.twitter.com/AddflCUMpi
— Bobby (@bobbyberk) October 4, 2020
So IG didn’t block #ProudBoys until it was gays? When it was white supremacy it was fine? pic.twitter.com/EiTs1YEWAM
— Trixie Mattel™ (@trixiemattel) October 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/LescaudronGarth/status/1313111836921860099?s=20
#ProudBoys together 19 yrs, married 6 pic.twitter.com/mBsTnjWYBj
— ray ptasienski 🔴🟠🟡🟢🌎🟣 (@rayPtasienski) October 5, 2020
#ProudBoys forever, married 14 years!! pic.twitter.com/1nzfqgvqWL
— Clay (@Clay07370646) October 5, 2020
Delightful scenes all round, sure.
This comes after US President Donald Trump refused to condemn the Proud Boys (the bad ones) in his first Presidential debate against Joe Biden.
After the group were name-checked, they no-doubt received a sudden influx of interest online – an interest that has since been successfully hijacked by thousands of gay couples.
You truly do love to see it.
