LGBT

About

LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. On the Internet and in the English-language media, the term has been generally used to refer to the community of the aforementioned gender minorities and advocacy for the advancements of their civil rights, most notably in the issue-areas concerning same-sex marriage, adoption and homophobia.

Online History

Fuck You Anti-hate Collaboration

Fuck You Anti-hate Collaboration is a series of LGBT lipdub tributes to Lily Allen’s 2008 anti-hate single “Fuck You (Very Much).” Sung to cheerful, musical-type music, the song’s lyrics directly address racists and homophobes as generally small-minded and culturally unprincipled people.

On May 4, 2009, Australian YouTube user "\steviebeebishop put a video called BIGFATGAYCOLLAB! online, which consisted of members of the international LGBT community lip dubbing to the song.

“It Gets Better”

It Gets Better Project is a social media campaign launched by American author and gay rights advocate Dan Savage in an effort to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by encouraging gay adults to spread the message that their lives will improve. Since its foundation in September 2010, the project has grown into an international movement with more than 50,000 video messages and 50 million views.

Red Equal Sign

Red Equal Sign is a banner image of an equality sign based on the official logo of The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBT equality-rights advocacy and lobbying group in the United States. In March 2013, more than 10 million Facebook and Twitter users replaced their profile avatars with the logo in support of same-sex marriage.

“Santorum” Googlebombing

Santorum is a term that has been popularly defined as “byproduct of anal sex.” It was first conceived and coined by American columnist Dan Savage and his readers in an effort to publicly shame the former Republic senator Rick Santorum for the anti-gay remarks he made during an interview with the Associated Press in April 2003. The term still remains as the top result for Santorum’s name on several search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo, as of September 2011.

Notable Episodes

George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member

George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member is a viral video featuring a public service announcement message by George Takei, a Japanese American actor best known for his supporting role as “Hikaru Sulu” in the sci-fi TV series Star Trek and political activism in advocacy of Gay rights. The message is specifically addressed to Clint McCance, a Arkansas School Board member who posted a series of highly homophobic comments on his Facebook page in response to recent the school-wide LGBT rights campaign.

Audio (mp3 link):“You Are, A Douchebag!”

Chick-Fil-A Gay Marriage Controversy

On January 4th, 2011, Metro Weekly published an article titled "Is “Chick-fil-A”: restaurant against gay rights?", which reported that the anti-gay marriage organization Pennsylvania Family Institute (PFI) listed American fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A as a co-sponsor of two marriage conferences. On January 6th, Chick-fil-A posted a statement on its official Facebook page, downplaying the company’s relationship with PFI by claiming it only provided sandwiches to the marriage seminars.

Oreo’s Gay Pride Cookie Controversy

On June 25th, 2012, a picture of an Oreo cookie with six layers of frosting in the colors of the rainbow flag was posted on Kraft Nabisco’s Facebook page.^[1] The image was accompanied by the captions “June 25 | Pride” and “Proudly support love!” in recognition of LGBT Pride Month in the United States. The Facebook image post was instantly met by polarized opinions between supporters and critics of gay marriage, quickly escalating into a lengthy debate of more than 23,000 comments in the first 24 hours. As of December 11th, 2012, the Facebook post has accumulated more than 297,700 likes, 90,700 shares and 60,400 comments.

Daniel Pierce Coming Out Video

Daniel Pierce Coming Out Video refers to a video Daniel Pierce, a nineteen-year-old from Georgia, which was uploaded to YouTube and shows his father and stepmother abusing him after he told them he is gay. After the video went viral a crowd funding campaign for Pierce’s living expenses gained over $100,000.

Duck Dynasty Controversy

Phil Robertson’s Anti-Gay Comment, better known as The Duck Dynasty Controversy, refers to a controversial statement made by the star of the A&E reality TV series Duck Dynasty on the subject of homosexuality in a feature interview with GQ in December 2013.

Barilla’s Anti-Gay Controversy

On September 26th, 2013, Guido Barilla, the chairman of the Italian food company Barilla Group, stated in an interview on the radio show La Zanzara that the company would not consider using gay couples in advertisements for their pasta brand because he does not agree with their lifestyles. He went on to emphasize the importance of what he considers a traditional family, stating “If gays like our pasta and our advertising, they will eat our pasta; if they don’t like that, they will eat someone else’s pasta.”

Pat Robertson’s Gay AIDS Ring Controversy

Pat Robertson’s Gay AIDS Ring refers to a video clip of the conservative Christian talk show host claiming that some in San Francisco’s gay community intentionally try to spread the HIV virus by cutting each other with special rings. The video saw a surge in popularity in late August 2013 after Robertson failed to have it removed from YouTube, resulting in the blowback phenomenon known as the Streisand effect.

Related Memes

Sassy Gay Friend

Sassy Gay Friend is a YouTube series created in 2010 by the online team of the Chicago-based improv company The Second City. The series starred actor Brian Gallivan as the titular character who visits famous characters from literature and film, as well as a handful of historical figures, to give them advice from the perspective of a over-the-top stereotypical homosexual male.

Boyfriend Twins

Boyfriend Twins is a single topic blog dedicated to curating photographs of male couples who resemble each other as if they were brothers. Boyfriend Twins^[1] was launched on April 6th, 2014 by a Tumblr user who wishes to remain anonymous. In an interview with BuzzFeed^[2], the creator said he decided to start the blog after discussing the concept with a friend, initially dubbed “doppelbangers,” in order to “start a conversation about narcissism, exhibitionism and sexuality."

Notable Figures

George Takei

George Takei an author and actor known for playing the character Hikaru Sulu in the science fiction television series Star Trek and his strong online presence in advocacy of LGBT rights.

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor best known for portraying the title character in the ‘80s TV series Doogie Howser, M.D. and Barney Stinson in the 2000s sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Outside of his acting career in television and musicals, Harris has garnered a large following online for his active social media presence and advocacy of LGBT rights as an openly gay actor.

Tyler Oakley

“Tyler Oakley”: is a YouTube vlogger and online activist best known for his advocacy for the LGBT community and humorous commentaries on popular culture and social media. He was also a member of the YouTube channel Five Awesome Gays^[1] that ran from 2008 to 2011.

FCK H8

FCK H8 is an online store and activist organization promoting tolerance of the LGBTQ+ community. The group has garnered attention for its celebrity endorsements, as well as criticism for commercially exploiting the movement and blatantly pandering to young adults with provocative slogans.

Search Interest

External References