In the United States, June is Pride month which is celebrated by the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. It promotes visibility and equality for LGBTQ+ individuals.
But one conservative gay man vehemently opposed to the month-long festivities went off in a TikTok rant about why Pride month was unnecessary.
TikTok user @tobyduff is a gay man and a Donald Trump supporter who said he "never understood why Pride month is a thing."
"Instead of Pride Month, we should have a day—if that," Duff continued.
"I believe veterans and those that have served our country should have a month-long celebration."
@tobyduff Visit TikTok to discover videos!
He added:
"Being gay is just that. It's just being gay...there's no need to celebrate our sexuality and separate us from society."
"There's no need for companies to put a gay flag over their logo during June. There's no need to force sexuality down the throats of people who don't want to see it."
The clip ended with him saying being gay in today's society was the new normal and there was no need to celebrate it.
The backlash was swift in response to Duff's video.
Many of the comments called out his privilege.
@tobyduff/TikTok
@tobyduff/TikTok
@tobyduff/TikTok
@tobyduff/TikTok
Enter John S. Blake, also known as @blackfluidpoet—who has a following of about 362K TikTok followers.
He set the record straight about the importance and significance of celebrating Pride month.
Before speaking, Blake proceeded to lay out a number of LGBTQ+ books.
The stack of books included Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde; Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene A. Carruthers; Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Street by Feminista Jones, Arresting Dress by Clare Sears, and Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg.
Blake addressed Duff and said:
"It's because you don't know the history or choose to ignore it."
He continued to explain how people coming out as queer in the 80s consequently lost their jobs, families, and homes.
"You weren't here for the bashings and beatings," he told Duff.
"You wouldn't even be making a video if it wasn't for them."
Blake attached Duff's intro at the beginning of his TikTok clip before explaining why we celebrate Pride.
@blackfluidpoet #stitch with @tobyduff #pridemonth #foryoupage #foryou #fyp #PerfectAsWeAre
People were here for Blake's schooling of Duff.
@blackfluidpoet/TikTok
@blackfluidpoet/TikTok
@blackfluidpoet/TikTok
In response to a comment that said of Duff:
"The thing is.. He's not a gay man. He's transgender and in a deep denial. Pride is necessary and SHE knows it."
Blake disagreed and said:
"We don't do that here."
" Trans or cis, [Duff] identifies as a man. Point blank, period. And if he identifies as man, cis or trans, and is sexually attracted to other men, that makes him gay.
Blake said he would fight all the way through the front lines "through bullets and blades" for Duff to have that right, adding he would also fight for Duff's right to be a conservative.
"Because that is what freedom means."
He also mentioned Marsha P. Johnson, a drag queen, and gay rights advocate who was a prominent figure in the June 28, 1969, Stonewall Uprising on which Pride month is based.
"Whether or not he can acknowledge the 400,000 men that have died of AIDS is irrelevant. Whether or not Marsha P. Johnson threw a brick in his name doesn't matter."
"Because the one thing that I can acknowledge is how freely [Duff] got on social media and said 'as a gay man."'
"Do you know how long we've been waiting for that kind of freedom? Do you have any idea? Yeah, okay then."
@blackfluidpoet Reply to @i_hug_you_now #foryoupage #foryou #fyp #pridemonth
@blackfluidpoet/TikTok
@blackfluidpoet/TikTok
@blackfluidpoet/TikTok
Blake ended his response with a question for Duff.
"Do you know how long we've been waiting for that kind of freedom? Do you have any idea?"
"Yeah, okay then."
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