"So Don't Be Weak and Gay" Valentina Gomez

Submission 8,024

Part of a series on Politics / Government. [View Related Entries]

About

"So Don't Be Weak and Gay" Valentina Gomez, also known as Don't Be Weak and Gay, Stay Fucking Hard, refers to a viral video posted by Republican politician and Missouri Secretary of State candidate Valentina Gomez on Twitter / X, showing herself running with a black bulletproof vest on and saying, "In America, you can be anything you want, so don't be weak and gay, stay fucking hard." Gomez also shows herself in an NRA hat holding a Kriss Vector CRB rifle. The video is set to the song "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco. After the video went viral in May 2024, many internet users criticized it for being homophobic and anti-LGBTQ+. Others posted memes with it, either championing Gomez or making fun of her and calling it "cringe."

Origin

On May 12th, 2024, Republican politician Valentina Gomez posted a video to her X^[1] account @ValentinaForSOS that was a campaign video for her Missouri Secretary of State campaign. In the video, Gomez is shown running in a tactical kevlar vest, telling the viewer, "In America, you can be anything you want, so don't be weak and gay, stay fucking hard." Then, a photo is shown of Gomez in an NRA hat, holding a flat-dark-earth-colored rifle and a pistol. The video's song was "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco. Over four days, the election advertisement received roughly 2.9 million views and 13,000 likes (shown below).

🚨Don’t be weak and gay🚨August 6th is the day we take Missouri back from these corrupt politicians. Cobratate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TateTheTalisman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">TateTheTalisman🔥MAGA pic.twitter.com/sKoY650Dmw

— Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForSOS) May 13, 2024

Gomez had gone viral earlier in 2024 when she uploaded a video on X^[4] showing herself burning LGBTQ+ books with a flamethrower.

Spread

In the following days, numerous users on the app were critical of Gomez's video, such as X^[2] user @JasonKander on May 14th, 2024, who said in a quote, "So refreshing to see a female GOP candidate who never served in the military doing the whole veteran cosplay, stolen valor, bigotry as a substitute for strength routine as well as any man." The post gained over 7,300 likes in two days (shown below, left).

Later on May 14th, X^[3] user @hodgetwins voiced support for the video, writing, "Hell yea 🇺🇸," in a quote, receiving over 7,800 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Also on May 14th, 2024, X^[5] user @sbstryker tweeted, "Unfortunately 'Don’t be weak and gay. Stay fucking hard' has become my motto for the summer," receiving over 32,000 likes in two days (shown below, left).

On May 15th, 2024, Redditor^[6] Halvinz shared a screenshot of Gomez's tweet to the subreddit /r/WhitePeopleTwitter, receiving over 970 upvotes in a day (shown below, right).

Also on May 15th, YouTuber^[7] The Art of Righteous Indignation posted a "Fixed" version of Gomez's video, adding a scene from the movie Team America: World Police, receiving over 8,700 views in a day (shown below).

Gomez's video was also criticized on Threads by several users.^[8]