Kamala Harris could be the next POTUS. And it feels so good.
After President Biden officially dropped himself out of the Presidential race on July 21st following one of the weirdest ever weeks of American politics, conversation quickly turned to who would be taking over as the Democrats’ nominee. And also Charli XCX. And coconuts. Kamala Harris went from awkward moment to surreal edit to hyper meme to Queer icon in 48 hours. While this is a well-worn path for many gaycon huns, this is the first time such a queen could end up in the White House. How did she do it? Let’s take a look.
Step One: Kooky auntie says or does something kooky. NB: Must be harmless or funny.
Starting with the coconut tree speech, given at the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics in May 2023. While this speech didn’t attract too much attention at the time, Republicans shared clips on Twitter in an attempt to discredit Kamala.
Step Two: Right wingers take the piss, to try and bring the kooky queen down.
Donald Trump started referring to Kamala Harris as “Laffin Kamala”, mocking her tendency to giggle. “No, she’s crazy, she’s nuts!” he said. Hun, you think that’s a put down?!
Step Three: Twinks become obsessed, remix with other internet trends and brew a new Gay meme, reclaiming the narrative from the haters.
In the era of surreal internet clips, the coconut speech instantly endeared Kamala to Queer and female fans, growing the strength of the KHive and inspiring a spree of memes riffing on the brat summer trend. Chaotic, good fun and a little bit messy? That’s brat!
Step Four: Meme turbocharges thanks to the mighty power of Gays’ and girlies’ internet supremacy.
Open TikTok or Twitter and you’ll be overwhelmed with brat x Kamala edits, maybe even a few Taylor Swift remixes thrown in. Femininomenon energy.
Step Five: Charli references the meme and this becomes its own news story.
brat mastermind Charli XCX expressed her support both for the memes and the Presidential hopeful in the simplest way.
Step Six: Ironic merch, ideal for music festivals or Gay Halloween parties (season dependent).
Hours after Joe Biden dropped out of the Presidential race, a bunch of Gays wearing Kamala x brat baby tee crop tops appeared in Fire Island. A blessing, and a sign that things are moving in the right direction.
Step Seven: Background check on the person to make sure they’re sound to LGBTQ+ people.
Kamala Harris has been strongly in favour of LGBTQ+ rights for many years. In 2013, when Prop 8 was overturned, she made a call to the LA clerk to start Gay marriages immediately. She also led efforts to abolish Gay and Transgender “panic” defenses in criminal trials.
Step Eight: Icon leans into the meme, acknowledges the leg up they’ve had from the girls and the Gays and declares their unwavering support.
Kamala decided to lean fully into the memes with a brat social media redesign. She also referenced the coconut speech in her bio. (Social media-conscious queens know you should never run from the meme.)
Step Nine: Mother.
