About

Tennessee Lt. Governor Liking Gay Twink Instagram Content refers to a March 2023 controversy and viral story in which Republican, Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally was seen liking and commenting on the Instagram accounts of skinny, gay men (known colloquially as "twinks"), specifically the Instagram account of @franklynsuperstar. The discovery of McNally's online activity led to viral discourse on social media sites like Twitter, specifically centered on the proximity of the Tennessee House of Representatives bill to allow local religious officials the right to refuse to marry a gay couple on religious grounds (among other anti-LGBTQ+ bills) that was passed days prior.

History

On March 8th, 2023, Tennesse news outlet the TN Holler published an article^[1] titled, "Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Lt. Gov. McNally Comments On Racy Instagram Pics of Young Gay Male." The article outlined how "Tennessee is currently leading the nation in anti-LGBTQ hate, with 26 anti-LGBTQ bills moving through the legislature," including a February 2023 bill that would allow local religious officials the right to refuse to marry a gay couple on religious grounds.^[2]

The TN Holler discovered Lt. Governor Randy McNally's Instagram activity on his verified account, on which he'd been engaging with Instagram^[3] user @franklynsuperstar's lewd selfie and thirst trap content. TN Holler provided multiple screenshots from @franklynsuperstar's Instagram in which McNally's account was seen leaving comments (examples shown below).

The TN Holler posted to Twitter^[4] about its article on March 8th, 2023, gaining roughly 4,600 likes in two days. Later on March 8th, the story was picked up by other Tennessee news outlets. For instance, on the night of March 8th, local news station NewsChannel 5 Nashville aired a segment on McNally's Instagram activity, which was tweeted by Twitter^[5] user and news anchor Hunter Hoagland, earning roughly 335,800 views and 2,600 likes in two days (shown below).

NEW: Lt. Governor Randy McNally was caught frequently commenting on another man's suggestive Instagram photos from his verified account.His press team says "he has no intention of stopping."@NC5 pic.twitter.com/0d4nSnL8we

— Hunter Hoagland (@HunterHoagland) March 9, 2023

Also on March 8th, 2023, the news outlet WKRN published an article^[6] on the matter in which it'd reached out to @franklynsuperstar for comment:

He said McNally added him on Facebook in 2020, and then McNally followed his Instagram. He says McNally also sent compliments by direct messages, but they never met in person.

“To me, I’m not a stranger to compliments, so I don’t really read into them because I just think that’s wrong to assume somebody’s hitting on you just because they’re nice to you,” Franklyn told News 2. “He did not say he wanted to date me or have sex or anything like that.”

WKRN also asked for @frankylnsuperstar's opinion on the Tennessee government's recent anti-gay marriage bill:

Franklyn criticized the recent bills that have passed.

“I just hope that he knows I love him and LGBTQ+ loves him and would love him even more if he would open his heart and treat everyone else the way he wants to be treated because the way I want to be treated is to be accepted and be able to be myself and not be taken to police,” Franklyn said.

WKRN also reached out to Lt. Governor McNally for a comment. The outlet was given a comment from the Lt. Governor's office in response:

“Trying to imply something sinister or inappropriate about a great-grandfather’s use of social media says more about the mind of the left-wing operative making the implication than it does about Randy McNally. As anyone in Tennessee politics knows, Lt. Governor McNally is a prolific social media commenter. He takes great pains to view every post he can and frequently posts encouraging things to many of his followers. Does he always use the proper emoji at the proper time? Maybe not. But he enjoys interacting with constituents and Tennesseans of all religions, backgrounds and orientations on social media. He has no intention of stopping.”

Online Reactions

As the story spread on Twitter, various users expressed their opinions and shared memes on the matter. For instance, on March 8th, 2023, Twitter^[7] user and news anchor Walter Murphy tweeted the details of the story, gaining roughly 14,400 in two days, predominantly snowballing the story's virality (shown below, left). Others posted humorous replies to his tweet, such as Twitter^[8] user @mswann82 on March 8th, who replied with an Arthur meme reading, "Anti-Gay politicians when no one is watching them: / COCK." It received roughly 9,800 likes in two days (shown below, right).

On March 9th, 2023, Twitter^[9] user @JimmyJazz1968 conveyed skepticism regarding the Lt. Governor's office's response in a tweet that received roughly 6,500 likes in one day (shown below, left). Others, such as Twitter^[10] user @peachofababy on March 9th, speculated that Lt. Governor McNally's LGBTQ+ internet engagement expanded beyond @franklynsuperstar's page, allegedly including other LGBTQ+ members like drag queens. A similar conviction was made by the news outlet WKRN in its March 8th article.^[6] Twitter^[10] user @peachofababy's quote retweet received over 540 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Reactions

Not the Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee under a twinks Instagram page pic.twitter.com/DTEtYVxfgQ

— 💫 (@heyjaeee) March 9, 2023

The Lt. Governor of Tennessee publicly commenting on every twink’s IG posts thinking he’s sending DMs: pic.twitter.com/GBGd1OjQed

— frankie says relax (@frankbluecheck) March 9, 2023

Search Interest

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External References