The Proud Boys hashtag has been reclaimed by the LGBT+ community to drown out the racism and flood the internet with images of beautiful, queer love.
The far-right ‘white supremacist’ group gained an unfortunate publicity boost earlier this week when Donald Trump refused to denounce them on the debate stage with Joe Biden.
“Stand back and stand by,” was the best he could muster. The Proud Boys gleefully accepted the “shout out” which they interpreted as the president’s endorsement, and within the hour they had added his ambiguous instruction to their new logo.
But Gay Twitter wasn’t about to let that publicity go to waste. Star Trek legend George Takei, ever keen for an opportunity to troll Trump, stepped in with a brilliant idea to remind the Proud Boys of the true meaning of Pride.
“I wonder if the BTS and TikTok kids can help LGBTs with this,” he tweeted. “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.”
Yes, yes it would.
Now, in a trend that is undoubtedly infuriating the all-male hate group, anyone attempting to search for #ProudBoys will be met with a kaleidoscope of rainbow flags, gay icons, same-sex weddings and general LGBT+ love and affection.
Here are some of our favourites.
Good morning America!! #PrideBoys #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/3ruu5vdRAt
— Dr Gráinne McEntee (@pongosapien) October 4, 2020
Reclaiming the hashtag #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/OyeTIvftiy
— TURN TEXAS BLUE (@Blue_Texas2020) October 3, 2020
Get em while they’re 🔥#ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/ScVdzfkpS5
— jonjafan2 (@jonjafan2) October 4, 2020
The only #ProudBoys to be proud of 💕 pic.twitter.com/Q7WyArvQVz
— Sarah (@SarahVi0laa) October 4, 2020
Proud to have served in the gayest branch of the military. This is nothing new #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/svoQvKCEvj
— JWB (@JimB62909355) October 4, 2020
My fellow gays doing god’s work over on the #ProudBoys hashtag, so it would be remiss of me not to pitch in with some images of this absolute KING/QUEEN pic.twitter.com/KWVUkengNp
— 🏳️🌈 Max 🏳️🌈 (@SpillerOfTea) October 4, 2020
Credit: London Zoo pic.twitter.com/ObKOm5FBtB
— MarcR! (@petzpansen) October 4, 2020
We grew up in a time when gay men had no rights, when newspapers called us poofs, when police didn’t investigate when we were murdered.
So now we hold hands in the street, kiss in public and got engaged on top of a fucking mountain in Rio. Because we’re the real #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/u8w2S0EqLJ— Patrick Strudwick (@PatrickStrud) October 4, 2020
Drown out the noise!
Proud of these #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/SYGrhok8dJ
— Luke Baines (@LukeBaines) October 4, 2020
These two #proudboys are an example! Thank you George Takei for always giving us a light in the deep dark space 🙂 pic.twitter.com/08ZFKAmHo4
— Carlos Carvalho Calixto (@cmcc89) October 4, 2020
A pair of #ProudBoys here to reclaim the word proud 🌈
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 pic.twitter.com/YKdGQR263C— Lee (@leemc87) October 4, 2020
#ProudBoys on route 😂🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/RABayty2i6
— Being LGBTQ Podcast🏳️🌈 (@BeingLGBTQPod) October 4, 2020
Couple of #ProudBoys standing by. pic.twitter.com/R47akNOr4c
— The Sisterhood of Karn (@sisterhood_karn) October 4, 2020