AI-Created 'RuPublicans' Rockets to Viral Status
An Instagram account called @Rupublicans reinvents the most anti-LGBTQ+ Republican officials as drag queens, and social media is loving it.
The account's name, TIME Magazine points out, is "a spin on name of the political party with a nod to the famed RuPaul," and it has "gained nearly 100,000 followers in less than two weeks since its launch, going viral for its creative AI portraits of different Republicans in full drag.".
NBC reports that married couple Craig and Stephen - no last names shared, due to safety and privacy concerns - hit upon the idea for the account, which "has posted portraits of 11 conservative heavy hitters so far, each given his own distinctive style and, of course, drag name.
"And while it might appear that these men each had their own glam team on hand, the images were purely created by Craig, Stephen and an AI text-to-image program called Midjourney," NBC News added.
"We're huge fans of drag, and we were bearing witness to the GOP's anti-drag rhetoric and action, and we wanted to do something about it, so we said, 'Let's put the GOP in drag,'" Craig told NBC News,
Stephen noted to TIME, "What we're creating is pure fantasy, but the fear that they're spreading and the legislation that they're trying to pass is reality for so many people."
TIME noted that the Instagram account "comes at a particularly vulnerable time for LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.
"State lawmakers are introducing more anti-LGBTQ+ this year than in the past collective five years, according to Bloomberg and data from the American Civil Liberties Union," TIME detailed, "Anti-drag bills have been introduced in at least 14 states."
The images and drag names that the couple have created are clever and on-point, and so are the explanatory captions that sketch out each of the drag personae. Each newly-minted "Rupublican" comes complete with several dramatic - if not iconic - lewks and styles.
The duo came up with a trifeca of stunning portraits for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis - the Republican rising star who has made a name for himself by targeting transgender rights, LGBTQ+ youth, higher education, diversity training, and one of the state's libe
That last is a reference to how DeSantis used the levers of government to punish a private company - Disney - for its critique of the state's now-infamous "Don't Say Gay" law.
NBC also reports on the caption for another notoriously anti-LGTBQ+ lawmaker: Texas' Ted Cruz. "Cruzella Deville - Serving homophobic realness, she struts her stuff in fur coats lined with family values and defends every fetus and every gun."
NBC News recalled that Cruz "recently said the Supreme Court was 'clearly wrong' in its 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage."
"We want it to serve as a platform for a message and show that drag really isn't that scary," Stephen explained. "It makes you laugh, and it makes you think, and this isn't just for us and gay people.
"I hope that a lot of Republicans see this and can have a laugh at themselves, too."
Whether or not the GOP has a funny bone, social media users flocked to the comments section for the various images, sometimes with requests for which homophobic lawmakers the couple should fabulously re-frame.
"Please, please, please PLEASE, I am begging! Do Greg Abbott next 🙏🏻🙋🏼♀️💖" one user commented on the portait of Ben Shapiro as "Sister Slaypiro."
"Please do george santos!" another chimed in - despite the fact that photos have already circulated showing the New York representative in drag.
The couple cast Rudy Giuliani as Rudy Garland, calling him "the GOP's downfall darling," and saying that she's "serving cuckoo couture."
"Please do femmes in male drag," one fan suggested. "I'm dying to see Lauren Boebert in drag."
"Okay, but these are so much better than the originals... 😂" another posted.
The couple may have struck on a rich vein of satire that could yield products beyond Instagram. At least one user lobbied for an analogue equivalent, posting, "I would buy a calendar of these. And I haven't bought a calendar in years."
"Oh my, these need to published in a book and/or as collectible trading cards," another commented, "with the 'Before' pics ( and a list of their trespasses and crimes) and 'Afters' (with all the things they did differently - and with grace, fun and humanity - once they came to accept their inner queen."
Their idea could even go global, judging from this response:
"Even as a non American I am living for these. All I want now is a British Tory version 🙌"