The powerful slogan "be Gay Do Crimes" has been gaining internet attention for almost a decade. You have seen it on Twitter, Instagram, or the spooky meme "Skeleton communist". The phrase isn't encouraging you to be a criminal and kill people or even steal from a bank. It is more of a revolution against discrimination against the LGBT community. As we all know, crime is an illegal way people survive hunger, addiction, lust, poverty, and sometimes basic human rights. Yes! It is a crime offensive to speak against the government in some countries, getting you killed.
A few years ago, gay was still a crime in the United States, and even when it was legalized, it was still a crime in the eyes of many people and groups. Many LGBT members lost their lives because someone sees gay as a crime and decided to take justice into their hands. Be Gay Do Crime was used as a powerful revolution to encourage closet LGBT members to speak up and live without fear.
Origins of the Phrase Are Gay Do Crimes
The phrase be gay do crime has been around for a long time, and its source can't be traced, but it started making waves on the internet in 2011 and at the Aroundmen.com website. The primary use of the phrase happened five years later when a photo of graffiti in Marseille went viral on Twitter. It was a simple graffiti with just the phrase "be gay do the crime" spray on a wall, but it was powerful and did encourage many people to come out.
Two years later, another photo in the form of a meme went viral. In the political meme of the 1800s, the skeleton communist was altered by Io Ascarium and shard on Twitter in 2018 went he encountered two teenage girls making out in a stairway. He yelled to them, BE GAY DO CRIMES, and they replied, STONEWALL WAS A RIOT. It was a powerful inspiration to many LGBT members who were still hiding, and the phrase was used many times in various meme and pride rallies.
More Context from the Be Gay Do Crime Meme
The phrase was used in hilarious food puns and other specific memes encouraging people to rise above the law against the baric right and be themselves. It also reminds us that being gay is a crime in many people's eyes; many religions still forbid homosexuality and may never allow it even though it legalizes it. Since modern homosexuality, there have been two ways that LGBT members deal with discrimination; they include:
The Respectable Gay
The idea behind this group is the sweet way to deal with people that discriminate against their sexual identity. They preach to haters how they want to live everyday life and don't want to be judged or segmented due to their lover's choice. They preach about kindness and how they are like everyone else.
The Exceptional Queer
Their ideology is based on Be Gay Do Crime but not too deep. They believe they are exceptional and nothing like straight people, and even within the queer community, they are different, and they love and accept it.
This second group is where many LGBT Aroundmen.com members stay; this is the idea they believe in, and in their defensive, they are exceptional. They love different and are a judge or discriminated against because of that. In a heteronormative community, the phrase Be Gay Do Crime sounds so right and raise the morals and esteem of closet gays.
At the same time, it tells a straight person not to feel like the traditional male and female love is the only option for excellent life, and trying other available options might be a good call. As the world evolves and digitalizes, it is only a matter of time before the whole world accepts it, so why not "Be Gay and Do Crime" is evolutional? Even among politicians of countries that banned homosexuality, they practice gay and lesbian. The phrase can be pegged to the fact that there is nothing wrong with being gay even though it is a crime in your country or your parents' eyes.
Has the Slogan Change "Be Gay Do Crime" within these Modern Years?
Unlike the early 2010s, when the phrase was seen as a crime chant, it changed its context by the late 2010s. Its context is no longer--if gay is a crime, then I am a criminal, and I am unapologetic about it—as decoded by s. It has taken a more peaceful and sweet meaning thanks to social media. It has become more of a funny meme than a threat. The context is more "Dear God, we're so gay", and from another perspective, it's calling on queer all over the world to love unconditionally and not be afraid of their sexual identity.
Love is love, but queer love is beyond traditional love between a male and female. The courage to be a queer is massive, and that's why their love is more prominent. The phrase also serves as a reminder of how much sacrifice early queers have done, from the Stonewall riots in 1969 to gay serial killers who are still roaming the street of America and the world.
The more advance we get, the more open-minded the society becomes, but it is essential to speak up, and the phrase Be Gay Do Crime is deep enough to let the world know that queer people are humans and they have the right to love whoever they want, and you are not a judge or even a god.
