Memes de gays

The start of June kicks off Gemini season and, most importantly, Pride Month!

But between the activism, the self-discovery, and the constant emotional whiplash of existing under late-stage capitalism, sometimes what we really need is a meme about how our gender identity changes depending on the lighting.

But to truly understand queer meme culture is to enter a coded world where the absurd, the transgressive, the traumatized, and the celebratory coexist in strange, humorous symbiosis.

From the earliest fandoms on Tumblr to niche communities on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), queer folks have developed a digital slang that combines political commentary, niche style, fandom tropes, and pop culture into something that's half-performative art, half-group therapy.