by Matthew Yapp The internet is a strange place full of confusing, borderline senseless humor. Memes rise and fall in the blink of an eye. From tea-sipping frogs to porn-loving politicians/zodiac killers it can be near impossible to keep up with where and why these came into existence. However, everything has meaning, and everything has to come from something, so we are looking into the depths of the web at some of the most popular pieces of internet culture and explaining not just how they started, but also why they got so popular. Besides the fact that we all just like to jump on the band-wagon of humor to chase that fleeting feeling of belonging… that might just be me, I’m not sure. Anyway, this week we are taking a look into the “gay culture is…” meme. If there’s two thing gay people love, it’s memes and completely claiming ownership over something that they have no justification to take. If you don’t know, a current meme that is circulating the internet is the “gay culture is” meme. One major origin of this is from the queer icon The Babadook. His origin came from being accidentally listed under LGBT movies on Netflix. When people saw this we without any hesitation recognized the manifestation of depression as one our own and the Babadook became a star in the community. From pride parades to Rupaul’s Drag Race, he was everywhere. This started a trend in the LGBTQ+ community that asserts we no longer needed real justification: anything could be gay with the right attitude. But the meme went into full force when twitter user @introvertgay made this tweet: https://twitter.com/introvertgay/status/903799304455847938 And while the initial tweet was rather serious and rang true for many, the internet did what it did best. Made something that should’ve been taken sincerely and turned it into something really weird and funny. The LGBTQ+ community has managed to find ways to make just about anything “gay culture” and somehow, it’s all really relatable. That is why today we have 25 pieces of society that are obviously gay culture, whether they were meant to be or not.
1. Flannels
Whether you’re lesbian, gay, bi, trans, ace or anywhere in between we all love a good flannel which is why we’ve chosen them as the official article of clothing for queer folk. Be on the lookout for the new flannel rainbow flag coming out soon.2. Cats
3. Starbucks, but also coffee in general
4. Friends (the tv show)
5. Depression
https://twitter.com/killerqueenJM/status/908333586587246592 It’s sad, but it’s ours.6. Glee
7. Steve Rogers
Listen: he’s bi, he’s ours, and he’s going to marry Bucky. That’s just the facts.
8. Having crushes on your same sex friends and then feeling guilty and “predatory”
We’ve all been in an awful situation where you develop feelings for a close friend of yours. It happens to everyone gay or not, but suddenly you feel like the worst person. It feels like your pushing your sexuality onto other people when you’re actually just having a human reaction. Luckily one of the major reasons queer people love memes is that we’ve gotten really good at masking our pain with jokes.9. The Cheetah Girls
10. Brunch
11. Stalking social media to find out if someone is gay
https://twitter.com/Terr/status/867470686931083264 Does her going to a Tegan and Sara concert back in 2015 mean she’s a lesbian? Is she ready to get married? I NEED TO KNOW!12. Britney Spears
13. Trying to force yourself to believe Megan Fox/Ryan Gosling is hot
Everyone else in middle school had them as straight crushes so if I just fake it I can be straight too, right?14. Target
15. Oversharing
https://twitter.com/GHOSTZVNE/status/90689256509351116916. Every single female Disney villain
17. Cuffed Jeans
18. All your favorite gay characters being killed by stray bullets
19. The Tri-state area
First of all it contains New York City – the gayest city. Second of all the Tri-state area is home to Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, a true gay icon. I mean, he has extravagant musical numbers, he loves oversharing past trauma, and has an affinity for the dramatic. So yeah, the Tri-state area and everything in it is gay now.
20. Vine
21. Old people asking you how you’re “keeping the boys off you” or “you must be a lady killer” but secretly being queer as folk
“Sorry Marge, I don’t have a girlfriend. No, I’m not playing the field either. No Marge, I just don’t feel attraction to people. Asexuality is real Marge, stop forcing emotions onto me.”22. Guiltily eating Chick-fil-A
https://twitter.com/thejoshbaty/status/928673120810078208 I know that they’re homophobic, but I really like waffle fries – okay?23. Waffle fries
24. Watching an entire series for 30 seconds of gay content
I know it’s really boring but in season 7 two women hold hands for six seconds before one of them is killed by a stray bullet.25. Referring to any and every inconvenience as “homophobic”
https://twitter.com/kin4thewin/status/859775042883813376 That red light: homophobic. My coupon expiring: homophobic. Parents kicking you out of the house when they find out you have a boyfriend; that’s actually homophobic. You get the idea though. This meme originated from pain (which happens to be the queerest way for it to originate). LGBTQ+ people use this joke not only to talk about and deal with their pain, but also to connect to one another. When we all share so many common experiences, it makes perfect sense that we would want to express it – even if that common connection is expressing that we all loved The Cheetah Girls back in the day. Beyond that, it’s clear that the “gay culture is…” meme is a way for all of us to come together and appropriate the entire world.Sources: Logo, The Guardian, The Odyssey Online, Byte Images: The Daily Beast, Logo, Twitter, Glee Wiki
