In the age of doomscrolling, there are very few things that leave you actively shocked at the information you’ve just consumed. For me, that was the social media-wide conspiracy theory that recently began circulating online, which alleged that right-wing podcaster Candace Owens was, secretly, a queer woman with dating profiles active from her time at the University of Rhode Island all the way until 2022. While the claims (posted anonymously on X) have little merit, the response they garnered from digital onlookers is nothing short of hilarious. (Candace Owens at the Massachusetts COVID-conscious lesbian bar being a personal favourite.) Humour aside, what this incident tells us about the state of the left’s online portrayal is the opposite of funny.
It certainly does not work in Owens’ favour that the public is quick to believe any juicy rumours they see online. Especially if the rumours in question are centred around someone’s sexuality — a bottomless pit for self-proclaimed Internet comedians. The leaks additionally look pretty believable for anyone lacking in critical thinking skills, which caused quite the avalanche of snarky comments and victorious commentary from the Gen Z left revelling in the idea of Owens being an expert in anything “fake and gay” — her own catchphrase that gained an entirely different meaning in the light of the news. Owens herself appears to be easily provoked by the allegations, responding to comments rather than simply ignoring them. This, combined, makes her a perfect victim of online trolls and meme material only comparable to that of her late friend, Charlie Kirk. While the irony of a conservative commentator searching for gay sexual escapades online does warrant some deserved mocking, the reality of the situation behind it is rather concerning.
What, really, does it say about the “woke” generation that they find someone’s alleged closeted existence the peak of comedy? Is there anything funny about Owens’ situation if we were to assume the rumours to be true? While it makes perfect sense to be satisfied at the idea of your tormentor finding themselves at the short end of the stick for once, being overjoyed about it seems simply unnecessary. The language being employed when talking about the situation is inherently homophobic, which seems quite jarring when coming from a community of people so intent on protecting marginalised groups. There is a certain dissonance in stating your approval and support of a group and then treating it as the laughingstock of a situation it has no involvement in. Candace Owens already believes that being accused of partaking in anything outside the realm of heteronormativity is humiliating and degrading — all that the comments are doing is simply reiterating something that she agrees with. Treating queerness as a “gotcha” moment is not reclaiming it but rather further alienating an already ostracised community.
Sure, it’s human to feel the need to prove a point – and what can do it better than Candace Owens x Erika Kirk fanfiction? After all, there is only so long you can act as the bigger person before the depressing reality comes creeping in. But no part of “a bigot is gay” can ever be insightful or illuminating in any other way than through satisfying an itch for getting back at the far right. If anything, it’s the far-right that comes out victorious at the end of it all. Throwing internet tantrums over Candace Owens does nothing for the left but distracts from what really matters. The image it provides is one of an irrational, hypocritical group of kids. And if the choice is between one right-wing commentator potentially being a hypocrite and an entire army of individuals engaging in what they claim to refute, it will be Owens who comes out unscathed. We are slowly becoming the cartoonish version of “crazy leftists” that conservatives are constantly poking fun at.
This is where the real harm of the entire ordeal comes in. It’s not Candace Owens who becomes the victim in this conspiracy — the woman will recover just fine and continue to poison our screens. It’s everyone else who ought to be worried about the way in which the left is subconsciously swinging towards the right in something as simple as Internet discourse. There is a real problem happening when conservative values are being spread under the guise of mocking those same values. It’s uncomfortable to think about, but it’s true. And without reaching too far, it casts a very negative light on the future of how liberalism is presented and received. Because were our politics even that strong to begin with if they could not persevere under a joke about Candace Owens, of all people?
Maybe we were never as “woke” as we thought ourselves to be. Maybe the Solo Poly Hijabi Amputee was never meant to live past 2020. Nonetheless, the Candace Owens situation is not the first instance of the left turning their backs on the communities that are their strongest pillars. Just recently, Donald Trump’s visit to Dublin was met with giant inflatables featuring him having intercourse with Netanyahu. Once more, an act simply meant to show disapproval of the US president’s policies indirectly suggested the humiliating connotations of same-sex intimacy. I have no doubt this will be called a reach and an overreaction — after all, the enormous balloons welcoming Trump were funny. The point, however, is simply trying to highlight how we’re attempting to combat conservatism with itself, and — like it or not — it is always the minorities that end up as the scapegoat. In the end, it truly doesn’t matter whether you like Candace Owens or not — you’ll look up her dating escapades as soon as you’re done reading this.
