The Canadian Armed forces joined a rebellion against Proud Boys today as Twitter users hijacked a hashtag commonly used by the far-right hate group.
A photo of one of their members kissing another man went viral on the back of the social media takeover, with an accompanying message reading:
“If you wear our uniform, know what it means. If you’re thinking about wearing our uniform, know what it means.
“Love is love. Know what we mean?”
If you wear our uniform, know what it means.
— Canadian Forces in ?? (@CAFinUS) October 4, 2020
If you’re thinking about wearing our uniform, know what it means.
Love is love.
Know what we mean? ???️?
Trump endorsement
The white supremacist group gained notoriety earlier this week when US President Donald Trump refused to publicly condemn them during the first presidential debate with Joe Biden.
Responding to a question from moderator Chris Wallace, who asked if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups that have showed up at some protests, Trump said: “Sure, I’m willing to do that. But I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing.”
On the Proud Boys’ account on the messaging app Telegram, members of the group celebrated the apparent endorsement.
“Trump basically said to go fuck them up,” said one of the Proud Boys’ leaders in a chat on the right-wing social media app Parler. “This makes me so happy.”
#Proud Boys
In response, gay men have taken to Twitter to reclaim the #ProudBoys hashtag, flooding it with photos of happy – and proud – gay couples.
Here’s what they had to say:
Drown out the noise!
— Luke Baines (@LukeBaines) October 4, 2020
Proud of these #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/SYGrhok8dJ
The reclaiming of #ProudBoys is wonderful. Here’s me and my husband. Together for 20 years and married for 3. Both very proud boys. pic.twitter.com/U2Dj95wpxy
— Matt Dechaine (@mattdechaine) October 4, 2020
Fantastic, I love this. #ProudBoys https://t.co/ZKB1CgPQC7
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) October 4, 2020
Had the pleasure of meeting these two #ProudBoys a while back. Gentlemen, both of them. Brad is a treasure. pic.twitter.com/ASQZDliHCc
— Dr Strange PhD???? (@CeeEyes) October 4, 2020
May the #ProudBoys hashtag being hijacked by the gays bless your timeline. ❤???????? Fuck Nazi scum. pic.twitter.com/RPEXtv9sAX
— Greg Sarafan, Esq ???? (@GSarafan) October 4, 2020
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