What Is The 'Homophobic Dog' Meme?

Over the years, dogs have inspired countless classic meme formats — from Doge and Yes, This Is Dog to the more modern Daredevil Dog. Now, there's a new pooch on the block and she's saying whatever is on her mind with no consideration for political correctness or the LGBTQ+ community.

Her name is Whitney Chewston, aka the Homophobic Dog, and while the memes featuring her may seem hateful at first, there's actually a lot more going on behind the meme than you might think. Here's an explanation.

Where Does The Homophobic Dog Meme Come From?

In June 2019, Ben Campbell and Logan Hickman, who run the Instagram account whitney_chewston, posted a photo of their dog Whitney sitting next to a glass of wine and giving the camera the sassiest look possible. Someone from the LGBTQ+ community took that image and made it into a meme captioned, "not too fond of gay people."

They then used the meme among friends as an inside joke, but by March 2021, it got out to the web at large, where it started to spread and inspire new variations.

By March 2022, the meme became a viral phenomenon on Twitter as an ironic reaction image used most often to react to news and topics surrounding the LGBTQ+ community in a tongue-in-cheek way. The original "not too fond of gay people" meme became only one of many versions of the meme as people used new images of Whitney under further over-the-top homophobic captions.

How Is The Homophobic Dog Used In Memes?

The homophobic dog meme is mainly used as an ironic reaction image to show joking disagreement towards LGBTQ+ topics or people. As homophobic versions of the meme became more popular, people also began creating memes using Whitney with more LGBTQ+ positive captions, portraying her as increasingly tolerant of the community as she does her research. Some of them even suggest Whitney is gay herself.

These memes, such as the "mama let's research" and "i have a confession" versions, have become just as popular as the ironic homophobic ones.

Recently, someone on Twitter posted the meme under a tweet by Chick-Fil-A, a restaurant that is often criticized by the LGBTQ+ community, suggesting the dog would feel at home in their restaurant. The meme even got a response from the restaurant, which didn't seem aware of the meme's connotations, creating a viral moment that spread internet-wide as a dunk on the company.

What Is The Homophobic Dog's Name?

The homophobic dog's real name is Whitney Chewston, a pun on the name of the singer Whitney Houston.

Is The Homophobic Dog Meme Homophobic?

While anyone can use the meme in any way they wish, including homophobes, the homophobic dog meme is largely considered ironic. In fact, Whitney Chewston's owners, two gay men, see the meme as a critique of homophobes, claiming that members of the queer community have embraced it and made it their own. The meme has even been used by a number of gay icons like Lil Nas X, who, back in March, tweeted, "Can u guys send me more pictures of that homophobic dog?"

For the full details on the Homophobic Dog, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.