Tons of memes on the internet poke fun at clichés and tropes that people like to mock, and one poking fun at the way straight women get together compared to lesbians has been used consistently on X / Twitter over the last six years since it first appeared.

The "Straight Girls Hanging Out vs. Lesbians Hanging Out" meme is a format that jokingly suggests straight women are more likely to hook up with each other than lesbians are when getting together.

Built around a deliberately ironic contrast, presenting exaggerated or mismatched visuals for comedic effect. Since its introduction in 2020, the format has circulated widely across social media as both an image macro and a reaction image.

So, where did this concept and meme first originate, and how exactly is it used online? Let's explain.

Where Does The “Straight Girls Hanging Out vs. Lesbians Hanging Out” Meme Come From?

The format originated on February 25th, 2020, when X / Twitter user @powcampsurvivor posted a tweet captioned, “straight girls hanging out vs lesbians hanging out.”

The post featured two side-by-side images: one depicting three adult actresses kissing, labeled “straight girls hanging out,” and another showing The Sopranos characters Tony Soprano, Christopher Moltisanti and Silvio Dante gambling, labeled “lesbians hanging out.”

The post gained traction as an exaggerated subversion. Screenshots of the original tweet circulated on multiple platforms throughout the early 2020s, contributing to its recognition as an image macro and reaction meme.

In the following years, particularly during 2023, the format experienced renewed virality as users recreated the caption with new image pairings.

The phrase “straight girls hanging out vs. lesbians hanging out” also developed into a bit of a copypasta or catchphrase, allowing for easy replication and variation across different contexts.

How Is The “Straight Girls vs. Lesbians Hanging Out” Meme Used?

The meme is typically used as a two-panel comparison format, in which the first image presents an exaggerated or ironic depiction of “straight girls,” while the second presents a comparatively mundane or unrelated depiction of “lesbians.”

The meme has also been used with violent imagery for even further exaggerations of the contrasting experiences, usually leaning into absurdity.

In addition to standalone image macros, screenshots of the original post have been widely used as reaction images.

These are often employed in online discussions to comment on perceived queerbaiting (a term for criticizing media that implies romantic or sexual tension between two characters of the same sex without explicitly confirming them as gay), particularly in reference to musicians, celebrities or media texts.

Variations of the format frequently incorporate characters from pop culture or unrelated visual material, maintaining the original caption while altering the images.

What Are Some Examples Of The "Straight Girls vs. Lesbians Hanging Out" Meme?

What Are Some Related Memes?

OMG You People Can't Do Anything

A similar meme, "OMG You People Can't Do Anything," originates from an October 2022 post on X / Twitter by user @Cicington. In the original post, the user responded to a discussion about the difficulty of Halloween costume planning for people with ADHD by replying, “Omg you people can’t do anything.”

The phrasing, read as dismissive, quickly detached from its original context and was repurposed as a standalone catchphrase.

The screenshot of the post began circulating as an exploitable meme template, typically used to mock or exaggerate responses to posts about accessibility, mental health or medical conditions.

In meme usage, the phrase is often deployed ironically as a petty or overly blunt reaction to personal struggles being shared online.

As a result, it has become part of a broader ecosystem of reaction images used to comment on perceived overreactions or misunderstandings in online discourse.

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For the full history of the 'Straight Girls Hanging out vs Lesbians Hanging Out' image macro, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry.