The "Bottom for Hillary" campaign started off as a drunken conversation among gay men in San Francisco about a month before Clinton's big announcement. But then, a 23 year old named Ryan decided to take the concept a step further by creating T-shirts, tank tops, a website, and an Instagram dedicated to the slogan "I'd bottom for Hillary."
Ryan has been a diehard Hillary supporter since the 2008 election and wanted to give the LGBT community their own unique way to show that they're behind (or, er, in front of?) Clinton. Bottom for Hillary's website reads:
It does not matter if you usually bottom, or if you usually top but can't resist the Clinton. She is a bad ass bitch. She is the head bitch in charge. She is the Ma'damnnnnn President.
Though she has been criticized for being wish-washy about gay marriage, many Americans have embraced Hillary as “a culture warrior on gay rights" at her strongest and far preferable to any GOP alternative at her weakest.
Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of "top" and "bottom" metaphors, insults like "suck it," or any other figure of speech implying that a particular sexual arrangement puts one participant below the other. But as a gay man with a very personal perspective on this symbolism, Ryan offered Fusion a compelling justification for his choice of phrasing:
Bottoming for someone takes a lot of trust and understanding. That’s kind of the same relationship that a lot of people have with Hillary Clinton.
Ryan added that, amusingly, some Republicans follow I'd Bottom for Hillary on Instagram thinking it's satire, but the campaign is totally serious — or, as serious as you can be in a photo simulating sexual relations with a cardboard cutout of a presidential candidate.
When The Huffington Post asked Ryan, "What do you say to those who think this is crude or inappropriate?" he responded, "I would say that it definitely is." Take that as you will.
Images: Giphy; bottomforhillary/Instagram
