Gay men take over the Proud Boys Twitter hashtag Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Oct 4 2020

Location: 

The Internet

The Proud Boys hashtag, which members of the far-right group have been using, was trending Sunday after gay men on Twitter hijacked it and flooded the feed with photos of their loved ones and families and with memes.

The Proud Boys recently made headlines by celebrating President Trump's reply at last week's debate, when he was asked to condemn White supremacists. The President instead used his allotted time to blame what he called "antifa and the left" for violence and to tell the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by."

But now the gay men of Twitter are making the group's hashtag known for entirely different reasons. Matt Dechaine, one of the men who pitched in with photos of himself and his husband in efforts to overtake the hashtag, said his goal was simply to spread joy. "Seeing the hashtag was so uplifting," Dechaine, who is from England, told CNN. "It feels like the movement for positive change for all is gathering momentum all the time and I'm glad to be a small part of it. By coming together rooted in respect and love for each other, the world can be so much better!"

Alaa Elassar
CNN
October 4, 2020

External sources: 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/proud-boys-twitter-hashtag-gay-men-trnd/index.…
Posted by srduncombe on Oct 5 2020

Staff rating: 

0

Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Activates (people)Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Shifts (culture)Shifts the cultural landscape in order to imagine and enable change.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear short-term goal. Short-term goals tend to be things like: create or repeal a law; get a President impeached; make the city administration repair a sidewalk. A campaign with a short-term goal needs a clear theory of change, complete with targets that can be cajoled or pressured into effecting the goal.
Ridiculing the Far Right

Notes

Ideally, ridiculing the Proud Boys may hurt their recruitment and public image in the far right. Also just clever and fun and for the proud (gay) boys posting.