By Rohini Banerjee:
On February 24th, Twitter user John Russell Stranger tweeted asking people to battle homophobia by posting sarcastic responses about being queer using the hashtag #imqueerbecause:
Y’all, people come up with some evil and nonsensical reasons for why we’re queer. Let’s use #ImQueerBecause to have fun with the absurdity.
— John Russell Stanger (@RevJohnRussell) February 23, 2016
And queer twitter literally exploded – with responses ranging from biting, to intense, to rib-ticklingly hilarious. The hashtag was started to counter the bogus assumption that any form of childhood trauma or abuse leads to someone ‘turning gay’ or LGBTQ – which is surprisingly common amongst homophobes – and slowly evolved into a full-scale attack on common stereotypes associated with the LGBT+ community.
There were some hilarious responses:
#ImQueerbecause I went into a closet looking for Narnia but I got lost and came out a different closet https://t.co/PWYAvKnsQX
— Christophe Schaefer (@Kristophicus) February 24, 2016
Some people blamed it on “queer” food:
#ImQueerBecause One time I ate all the red M&Ms in the bag. You know what Red No. 2 does to you. https://t.co/1x2Jqbfctl
— Jes Kast-Keat (@JesKastKeat) February 23, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I had to many sprinkles on my ice cream when I was 5.
— Paul Trillich (@mr_wrightaway) February 23, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I drank coffee too early.
— John Russell Stanger (@RevJohnRussell) February 23, 2016
(didn’t quite get that reference, but I guess stereotypes are that random)
#ImQueerBecause I ate too much glitter as a child.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) February 23, 2016
Some people took on stereotypes head on:
#Imqueerbecause I wore a #plaid parochial school uniform.
— C. Valentine (@LiberTbyrd) February 23, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I watched The Wizard of Oz everyday for a year when I was four.
— Layton Williams (@ReverendFem) February 23, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I saw two guys kissing when I was a kid. pic.twitter.com/IsJKNE1oGV
— Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) February 23, 2016
My purity ring wasn’t big enough. #ImQueerBecause
— Katherine Lee Baker (@revkatiebaker) February 23, 2016
The Sarcasm Was Strong With This One:
#ImQueerBecause a gay classmate sneezed on me in middle school and didn’t take the straight pills and wear the straight jacket to cure it.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) February 23, 2016
Soon, Things Got Way Too Real:
#ImQueerBecause just being Black seemed like under achieving.
— The Beauty Vet (@thebeautyvet) February 23, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I woke up one day and decided a life time of discrimination sounded fun
— melina (@Melina1193) February 24, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I’m just in it for the relief of dysphoric symptoms
— Space Zinnia (@ZJemptv) February 24, 2016
#ImQueerBecause I’m sick of people acting as though their fellow humans are a different species, based entirely on genetalia. #genderqueer
— Ronen Kohn (@nowzehir) May 8, 2010
All in all, it was a pretty rad twitter trend, and some important misconceptions and stereotypes about LGBTQ people were challenged. You did good, twitter!
