Following last week's presidential debate, Twitter users were livid when Donald Trump told Proud Boys, a white supremacist group, to "stand back and stand by."
Shortly after Trump couldn't find the words to condemn white supremacy, the hashtag #ProudBoys started trending with most liberals expressing deep aggravation at the notion that a sitting president had passed on openly condoning a known hate group.
\u201cAsked by debate moderator Chris Wallace to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, Pres. Trump replies, "Sure, I'm willing to do that."\n"Then do it, sir," Wallace says. https://t.co/5Bl4Ob3O2t #Debates2020\u201d— ABC News (@ABC News) 1601433175
Queer men, however, had the last laugh.
People across the country swooped in to change the narrative by using the #ProudBoys hashtag to promote heartwarming images of gay men in love while others used it to promote queer visibility in other areas.
It's unclear where the takeover idea came from, but it might have started with a tweet from actor George Takei. Check out some of our favorites below:
\u201cI 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\u201d— George Takei (@George Takei) 1601590494
\u201cAsked by debate moderator Chris Wallace to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, Pres. Trump replies, "Sure, I'm willing to do that."\n"Then do it, sir," Wallace says. https://t.co/5Bl4Ob3O2t #Debates2020\u201d— ABC News (@ABC News) 1601433175
\u201cMe and my husband on our wedding day being #ProudBoys.\u201d— Nick Malkin\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Nick Malkin\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1601879570
\u201cWe got married this September after 33 yrs together and we re #ProudBoys\u201d— Roberto Cioccari (@Roberto Cioccari) 1601885560
\u201cMy boyfriend and I are #ProudBoys. Your an amazing guy. Thanks for the love and the laughs!!!!\u201d— Jeremy Schaeffer (@Jeremy Schaeffer) 1601874513
None— ElGuapo (@ElGuapo) 1601871005
\u201cMy fianc\u00e9 tells me he is #proud of my accomplishments and my career as a @RoyalCanNavy Officer in the @CanadianForces.\nI often remind him just how proud he makes me for being himself at home, at work and elsewhere.\n\nHe is a #ProudBoy. I am a #ProudBoy.\nWe are #ProudBoys. \ud83d\udc6c\u2693\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\u201d— Diego Ortiz, CD (He/Him) (@Diego Ortiz, CD (He/Him)) 1601855612
\u201cExtremely #proudboys\u201d— Benjamin Cohen (@Benjamin Cohen) 1601886673
\u201c\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 #ProudBoys\u201d— Canadian Forces in \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Canadian Forces in \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1601815227
\u201cMe riding with Dykes on Bikes 2019 SF Pride. #ProudBoys\u201d— FAB (@FAB) 1601916612
\u201c#ProudBoys forever, married 14 years!!\u201d— Clay (@Clay) 1601908019
\u201cLove is such a beautiful thing. #ProudBoys\u201d— Alyssas Kitchen BCN (@Alyssas Kitchen BCN) 1601878233
None— Zsoha (@Zsoha) 1601915436
\u201cThe love of my life, @MrPeteAndrew, and I are #proudboys!\u201d— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) 1601859283
\u201cMy husband and I were married May 12, 2019. We are #ProudBoys \n\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfe\u201d— Peter Knight (@Peter Knight) 1601865093
\u201cI am a proud gay man and I deserve to not have to argue for my own existence!\n\n \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc68\u200d\u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udc68\ud83d\udc6c\ud83c\udffd#ProudBoys\u201d— Queen Jynx\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udd1e\ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffe (@Queen Jynx\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udd1e\ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffe) 1601863061
While the intention of the tweets were meant to deflect from giving the Proud Boys a platform of any kind on Twitter, its leader, Enrique Tarrio, who also leads the grassroots group Latinos for Trump, told CNN that the reclaiming of the hashtag does nothing to stifle their voice.
"I think it's hysterical," Tarrio said. "This isn't something that's offensive to us. It's not an insult. We aren't homophobic. We don't care who people sleep with. People think it's going to bother us. It doesn't," adding, "One of the messages they want to send with this is that they're trying to drown out our supporters, they're trying to silence us. ... When you're trying to drown out other people's thoughts, I don't think there's anything progressive about that. Why don't these people just engage?"
Still, Tarrio's statement contradict hateful messages posted by some Proud Boys on the app Parler, a two-year-old social media app used widely by conservatives.
According to Forbes, Tarrio said in a Parler post that liberals were trying to turn the group's name into "a slur" and that the queer men using the hashtag #proudboys was an attempt "to drown out the voices of our supporters."
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?????" user @Tanamir replied to the screenshot of an image of two male Canadian military men kissing.
Another user reportedly wrote, "Fags," adding, "Can't stand gay people...should be illegal."
One Parler user reportedly created a meme of Takei holding up the OK sign, a gesture white supremacists use to identify themselves to each other, as an attempt to use his image to reclaim their agenda.
The Proud Boys have no real presence on Twitter anymore after the platform suspended them for violating their policy against "violent extremist groups" in 2018, meaning that the hashtag wasn't really being used prior to the last few days.
The Anti-Defamation League considers Proud Boys a violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic hate group. Prominent members marched have recently organized against Black Lives Matter protests.
RELATED | No LGBTQ+ Questions in Chaotic Trump, Biden Presidential Debate
