Instagram account transforms prominent Republicans into fierce drag queens
Category is: BIGOTS
Republicans are mounting an increasingly vicious, hateful, and vitriolic attack on LGBTQ rights in the United States.
It’s nothing new. For years Republican-led states have introduced anti-LGBTQ bills targeting trans healthcare and LGBTQ rights. The volume, however, appears to be increasing.
With Tennessee introducing a drag ban, and multiple other states following Florida’s example of the ‘Don’t Say Gay, Don’t Say Trans’ law, there’s not much to laugh about right now.
In response to Republican attacks on the LGBTQ community, one Instagram account has taken it upon itself to give us something to laugh about.
The account – RuPublicans – has rather amazingly transformed several prominent Republican leaders and lawmakers into drag queens through the use of AI. The results are quite simply stunning.
Among those to have been transfigured are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, and Ted Cruz.
At the time of writing (Friday 14 April) there are only 12 posts – all are brilliant. We’ve included some of our favourites below:
No friend to the LGBTQ community, Mitch McConnell has voted against LGBTQ rights frequently in his career. Among these, he voted against the Respect for Marriage Act passed last year.
The Act codified protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. It also repealed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act which kept marriage between a man and a woman.
Mike Pence is probably a Republican lawmaker who doesn’t really need an introduction. He served as Vice-President to the disgraced and now criminally charged former US President, Donald Trump.
As a Governor in Indiana, Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law in 2015. The bill essentially allows people/businesses to refuse LGBTQ customers based on religion. He has also opposed gay marriage and the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.
In the 1990s, Pence argued that homosexuality was a choice.
Matt Gaetz also voted against the Respect for Marriage Act last year. Gaetz has also (bizarrely) stated that gay couples should be against abortion so that they can adopt. It followed the US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has no issue marking himself as anything but an LGBTQ ally. A big supporter of the ‘Don’t Say Gay, Don’t Say Trans,’ law, he signed it into law himself last year.
As well as targeting Disney for its opposition to the law, DeSantis has also continually targeted “woke ideology.” Seen as a likely contender against Donald Trump for the Republican ticket in the 2024 election, DeSantis is doing his utmost against us.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham argued against the Respect for Marriage Act. Instead of US-wide protections, he favoured that individual states decide.
Graham has also defended people against LGBTQ rights as “not bigots.” He’s also fought against legal protections for LGBTQ people in the workplace.
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator for Missouri, demonstrated his transphobia last year during a hearing on the consequences of Roe vs Wade being overturned.
While questioning Professor Khiara Bridges from UC Berkeley School of Law on reproductive rights about the terminology “people with a capacity for pregnancy,” he sought clarification if that meant women.
Bridges tried to educate Hawley that some trans and non-binary people also can become pregnant and not all women can. Hawley could then not understand how denying trans and non-binary people contributed to a risk in suicide.
Check out the rest of RuPublicans work at @RuPublicans on Instagram.