The Proud Boys hashtag has been brilliantly hijacked by the gay community because no-one can defeat The Internet, not even a white supremacist President.
The all-male, alt-right group gained notoriety after Trump refused to condemn white supremacy. Soon after, #ProudBoys was trending on the Internet, but it was for good reasons.
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This time, it was not K-Pop fans, but the Gay Community who hijacked Twitter. After Trump told them to “Stand back and stand down” during the Presidential debate, the Proud Boys saw a spike in recruitments, with one member telling the Sunday Times in the wake of the televised debate: “I imagine people in Joe Biden’s camp are kicking him for bringing attention to us.”
And soon after, #ProudBoys began trending on Twitter, but not to promote hate, as the Proud Boys would have wanted. Gay guys all over the world reclaimed the hashtag with their own idea of pride, flooding the feeds with photos of happy and proud gay couples.
The idea seems to have sprung from a tweet from actor and activist George Takei who read: “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.”
I wonder if the BTS and TikTok kids can help LGBTs with this. 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
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 1, 2020
And Twitter showed up. Thank you.
https://twitter.com/BeingLGBTQPod/status/1312727388237725701
https://twitter.com/jcrdandaly/status/1312725384073543680
https://twitter.com/pongosapien/status/1312685665079959554
It went so well, George Takei acknowledged the success: “Look up what’s trending now on #ProudBoys. You’re welcome, Internet.”
Look up what’s trending now on #ProudBoys. You’re welcome, Internet.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 3, 2020