political cartoon, altered by Io Ascarium, was originally by Thomas Nast. Just saw two teenage girls hop the bart turnstile and run up the stairs and start making out and i couldn’t resist the urge to shout BE GAY DO CRIMES and they raised their fists and shouted back STONEWALL WAS A RIOT so i am informing you that the kids are in fact alright. The tweet popularised shouting the slogan at each other, at least among my circles, and reads: Be Gay Do Crimes made waves again in 2018 via both a viral tweet and a repurposed political cartoon from 1880.
The photo got shared far and wide on twitter and the gayest meme generator of our age, Tumblr (may she rest in peace). While it was definitely a slogan before hand, Be Gay Do Crimes first hit the internet in a big way in 2016 in the form of a photograph of graffiti in Marseille. So, at the risk of over-explaining the really quite straight forward instruction to Be Gay, Do Crimes, let’s go into a little meme history, shall we? Origins of the Slogan Then I get all history-nerd about it, and here we are.
I am often in the corner quietly googling memes so I know what the heck you’re talking about. I'm definitely On The Internet, but I am not the most up to date with internet speak, if that makes sense. If you don't know what that's all about, never fear! I get it. You may have noticed the phrase "Be Gay, Do Crimes!" kicking around here lately, either as hilarious food pun apparel (like this Be Gay, Do Criminis shirt or crop top) or an adorable queer love card.