If your Facebook friend suddenly debuts an especially patriotic avatar this week, it might not be because they’re extra excited about the 4th of July. To combat all that gay in their timelines, some conservatives are calling for true Americans to cover their profile photos with American flags instead.
To counter the 26 million or so Americans who have added rainbow flags to their profile pics to celebrate marriage equality, those against the ruling are slapping stars and stripes across their avatars. WTF? They can see where using the American flag might be confusing, right? Some might say that never in its entire history has the American flag stood for equal rights as much as it does right now. Now that the Supreme Court of the United States of America has legalised gay marriage in the United States of America. See what I’m saying? Nevertheless…
Want to counter the Rainbow Flag FB profile pic? http://t.co/kkBq1MCdW4 #tcot #rednationrising #lnyhbt pic.twitter.com/gw69TLUFqp
— Brandon Davis (@Pim_Pen) June 30, 2015
Want to counter the Rainbow Flag FB profile pic? American Flag Your Facebook Profile http://t.co/jHsrXMtSry #tcot #rednationrising #lnyhbt
— JON The Meme’ifier ✏ (@JonJayGroden) June 30, 2015
A tool similar to Facebook’s rainbow-maker can be found on RightWingNews.com. I wasn’t able to find too many people who had used this specific tool (which to be honest doesn’t work very well) but there were certainly plenty of avatars which had been American-ized, with some people like this radio host promoting the tool itself:
I did also find a conservative dog who was speaking out against the Supreme Court ruling:
The American flag as a symbol of anti-gay marriage sentiment is just sad. First of all, it’s not really the opposite of a rainbow flag, it’s more just, like, pro-US. It’s especially misguided because so many people will be wearing and/or waving American flags this weekend — maybe even more than usual to celebrate a very good week for the country.