After President Donald Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during the Tuesday presidential debate, gay men have taken over #ProudBoys on Twitter to show that their love is stronger than the organization’s hate.

The trend started because famous actor, George Takei, posted a photo with his husband. The famous couple garnered not only thousands of likes, but also thousands of copycats who wanted to show off their pride.

Of course, in true Twitter fashion, the hashtag has also begun to flood with memes.

However, there are also plenty of Twitter users against the trend – not necessarily because they are homophobic, but because the trend may not be as subversive or revolutionary as some posters think.

https://twitter.com/phxodisiac/status/1312819209307598848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1312819209307598848%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fnation%2F2020%2F10%2F05%2Fproud-boys-gay-men-use-twitter-reclaim-right-wing-group%2F3620924001%2F

https://twitter.com/DigisectChris/status/1312769317876961281

https://twitter.com/wavvesux/status/1312600168479494144?s=20

Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the organization’s Florida chapter, claimed that the takeover didn’t bother the group because they “don’t care who people sleep with,” but the group’s posts on social media site Parler said otherwise.

Tarrio has made similar statements about the Proud Boys in the past, most recently vehemently denying that the organization was a hate group despite their members’ hate speech and their role in events such as the KKK and neo-Nazi dominated “Unite the Right” Charlottesville rally.

Having been banned from Twitter since 2018, however, there is very little Tarrio and the other Proud Boys can do to dispel their bad name or reclaim their hashtag on the site, which is continuing to flood with photos and videos of LGBTQ+ boys flaunting their pride.

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Article by Bry LeBerthon

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