A gay makeup artist and content creator has shut down right-wing trolls using his photos to promote right-wing talking points.
Over the last few years, social media has seen an increase in far-right accounts spewing hateful rhetoric towards the LGBTQIA+ community, people of colour and generally anything that represents diversity or community.
While some are front-facing with their bigotry, sharing videos and creating awful podcasts, many opt to hide behind anonymous profiles filled with inflammatory statements and cringeworthy memes.
However, one thing that has become evident with extremely conservative social media users is their less-than-stellar history of researching and vetting their sources properly.
This was certainly the case for an account on TikTok, which unknowingly used a photo of openly gay makeup artist Anthony Gordon as its rugged right-wing mascot.
“Remember boys, they keep calling us ‘far-right’ when in reality we have been ‘right-so-far,’ the meme says alongside a photo of Gordon pensively staring off camera in a flannel shirt and cowboy hat.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the LA-based content creator to discover that his image was being used for right-wing purposes.
Taking to his Threads account, Gordon slammed the account that uploaded the meme, writing: “New here. Some of you will remember the idiotic far right stole an image of me to make a meme for them… What they don’t know is I’m far left gay liberal man lol. Bozos! Follow me, please.”
Since sharing his post, Gordon has received heaps of support from his followers.
“I lolled when I first saw this because I knew,” one person wrote.
Another Threads user commented: “They did the same thing to Kristofer Weston, the gay leatherman from @wattsthesafeword. Everytime they find an image of what they think they represent, it’s another gay progressive hot daddy. It’s starting to feel a little Freudian in here.”
As previously mentioned, social media has become a volatile place for LGBTQIA+ users due to the rise of far-right accounts and a lack of inclusive protections.
According to GLAAD’s 2025 Social Media Safety Index, platforms are largely “failing to mitigate harmful anti-LGBTQ hate and disinformation that violates their own policies.”
Another key finding from the report revealed that LGBTQ content is disproportionately suppressed on platforms “via removal, demonetization, and forms of shadowbanning.” At the same time, those same companies are withholding “meaningful transparency about content moderation algorithms, data protection and data privacy practices.”
In a statement, GLAAD President and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis said: “Recent years undeniably illustrate how online hate speech and misinformation negatively influence public opinion, legislation, and the real-world safety and health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people.
“The landscape of social media platform accountability work has shifted dramatically since GLAAD’s first SMSI report in 2021, with new and dangerous challenges in 2025.”
To read GLAAD’s complete 2025 Social Media Safety Index, click here.
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