Gay Hell

Submission 6,336

Part of a series on LGBTQ+ Pride Month. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Gay Hell is a town in Michigan bought by YouTuber Elijah Daniel in protest against President Donald Trump's ban on embassies flying pride flags.

Background

On August 30th, 2017, @elijahdaniel^[2] tweeted, "As of today, August 30th, 2017 I am the legal mayor of Hell, Michigan. This is real. I am the mayor of Hell" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 117,500 likes and 31,900 retweets in two years. Anyone can become the Mayor of Hell for $100.^[1] Daniel went on to tweet, "As acting mayor of Hell, Michigan I hearby ban all heterosexuals from entering our town" (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 47,400 likes and 14,400 retweets in two years. He, like many of the other mayors of hell, was impeached the next day.

Notable Developments

On June 17th, 2019, @elijahdaniel^[5] tweeted, "ahead of pride month Trump’s administration put a ban on embassy’s flying pride flags.^[3] so as of today, I am now the owner of Hell, Michigan. I bought the whole town. And my first act as owner, I have renamed my town to Gay Hell, MI. The only flags allowed to fly are pride" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 259,700 likes and 57,900 retweets in a day. Daniel went on to tweet, "Gay Hell, Mi has everything. A library, a place to lock your love in Gay Hell, and even a WEDDING CHAPEL TO GET GAY MARRIED IN HELL!" with pictures attached (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 56,100 likes and 4,800 retweets in a day.

On June 18th, 2019, @BrianAbelTV posted a video of "the man behind Hell, Mi – explaining how this whole thing played out" (shown below). The video accumulated over 500 likes in a day.