Public Universal Friend
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About
Public Universal Friend, born Jemima Wilkinson, was an American preacher known for their activism and unorthodox beliefs compared to other Quakers, including rejecting gender-specific pronouns. Wilkinson reportedly died in 1776 and said that his soul was reborn under the name "Publick Universal Friend." In December 2019, the Wikipedia entry for the preacher went viral with people praising their name and political views.
Online History
On December 6th, 2019, Tumblr [1] user madnessofmen posted a screenshot of the Wikipedia [2] article on Public Universal Friend. Within three days, the post received more than 39,000 notes (shown below, left).
Twitter [3] user @commandersnacks tweeted the article with the caption, "this is the coolest fucker ever and an insp to everyone that wants a cool new name." The tweet received more than 117,000 likes and 33,000 retweets in less than three days (shown below, right).
![Public Universal Friend The Public Universal Friend (born Jemima Wilkinson; November 29, 1752 – July 1, 1819), was born as an English- American to a Quaker family on Rhode Island, and was assigned female at birth. This person suffered a severe illness in 1776 (age 24), and reported having died and been reanimated by the power of God as a genderless evangelist named the Public Universal Friend. The Friend refused to answer any A portrait of the Public Universal longer to the previous name, Friend, from the Friend's biography Jemima Wilkinson, 1 quoted Luke written by David Hudson in 1821. 23:3 ("thou sayest it") when visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, and ignored or chastised those who insisted on using it. The preacher shunned the name "Jemima" completely, having friends hold realty in trust rather than see the name on deeds and titles. Even when a lawyer insisted that the person's Will should identify its subject as having been born under the name Jemima, the preacher refused to sign that name, only making an X which others witnessed, even though the Friend could read and write. 21 The Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes, avoiding gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries, and referring only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F.M[3] only address me as The Friend from now on](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/666/713/fb1.png "only address me as The Friend from now on")
![super mario kart funny car MADNESS @commandersnacks this is the coolest f----- ever and an insp to everyone that wants a cool new name Public Universal Friend The Public Universal Friend |(born Jemima Wilkinson; November 29, 1752 – July 1, 1819), was born as an English- American to a Quaker family on Rhode Island, and was assigned female at birth. This person suffered a severe illness in 1776 (age 24), and reported having died and been reanimated by the power of God as a genderless evangelist named the Public Universal Friend. The Friend refused to answer any A portrait of the Public Universal a Friend, from the Friend's biography written by David Hudson in 1821. longer to the previous name, Jemima Wilkinson, 11 quoted Luke 23:3 ("thou sayest it") when visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, and ignored or chastised those who insisted on using it. The preacher shunned the name "Jemima" completely, having friends hold realty in trust rather than see the name on deeds and titles. Even when a lawyer insisted that the person's Will should identify its subject as having been born under the name Jemima, the preacher refused to sign that name, only making an X which others witnessed, even though the Friend could read and write. 2 The Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes, avoiding gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries, and referring only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F."3] 7:39 PM · Dec 6, 2019 · Twitter Web App](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/666/715/9be.png "this is the coolest f----- ever and an insp to everyone that wants a cool new name")
Following the spread of these images, people online began joking about the name. Twitter[4] user @amyrmarv tweeted, "the existence of the Public Universal Friend implies the existence of a Public Universal Foe." The tweet received more than 20,000 likes and 4,000 retweets in less than two days (shown below).
Twitter[5] user @deathpigeon tweeted a glowing eyes version of the image (shown below, left). Twitter[6] user @thejeffreymarsh retweeted the @commandersnacks tweet and wrote, "FRIEND SAID NONBINARY RIGHTS IN THE 1700’S." The tweet received more than 46,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in less than three days (shown below, right).
On December 6th, Twitter[7] published a Moments page on the tweets.
Search Interest
External References
[1] Tumblr – madnessofmen's Post
[2] Wikipedia – Public Universal Friend
[3] Twitter – @commandersnacks' Tweet
[4] Twitter – @amyrmarv's Tweet
[5] Twitter – @deathpigeon's Tweet
[6] Twitter – @thejeffreymarsh's Tweet
[7] Twitter – The story of a genderless evangelist named Public Universal Friend
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![super mario kart funny car MADNESS @commandersnacks this is the coolest f----- ever and an insp to everyone that wants a cool new name Public Universal Friend The Public Universal Friend |(born Jemima Wilkinson; November 29, 1752 – July 1, 1819), was born as an English- American to a Quaker family on Rhode Island, and was assigned female at birth. This person suffered a severe illness in 1776 (age 24), and reported having died and been reanimated by the power of God as a genderless evangelist named the Public Universal Friend. The Friend refused to answer any A portrait of the Public Universal a Friend, from the Friend's biography written by David Hudson in 1821. longer to the previous name, Jemima Wilkinson, 11 quoted Luke 23:3 ("thou sayest it") when visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, and ignored or chastised those who insisted on using it. The preacher shunned the name "Jemima" completely, having friends hold realty in trust rather than see the name on deeds and titles. Even when a lawyer insisted that the person's Will should identify its subject as having been born under the name Jemima, the preacher refused to sign that name, only making an X which others witnessed, even though the Friend could read and write. 2 The Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes, avoiding gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries, and referring only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F."3] 7:39 PM · Dec 6, 2019 · Twitter Web App](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/666/715/9be.png "this is the coolest f----- ever and an insp to everyone that wants a cool new name")
![Public Universal Friend The Public Universal Friend (born Jemima Wilkinson; November 29, 1752 – July 1, 1819), was born as an English- American to a Quaker family on Rhode Island, and was assigned female at birth. This person suffered a severe illness in 1776 (age 24), and reported having died and been reanimated by the power of God as a genderless evangelist named the Public Universal Friend. The Friend refused to answer any A portrait of the Public Universal longer to the previous name, Friend, from the Friend's biography Jemima Wilkinson, 1 quoted Luke written by David Hudson in 1821. 23:3 ("thou sayest it") when visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, and ignored or chastised those who insisted on using it. The preacher shunned the name "Jemima" completely, having friends hold realty in trust rather than see the name on deeds and titles. Even when a lawyer insisted that the person's Will should identify its subject as having been born under the name Jemima, the preacher refused to sign that name, only making an X which others witnessed, even though the Friend could read and write. 21 The Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes, avoiding gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries, and referring only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F.M[3] only address me as The Friend from now on](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/666/713/fb1.png "only address me as The Friend from now on")
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