His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge was trending over the weekend after an adorable photo of the young royal standing on a helicopter went viral.
In the photo, Prince George, who turned four last week, is dressed in a chic red checkered shirt and navy shorts with a slight bend in his knees and his hands on his face. It is perhaps one of the cutest things we’ve ever seen.
But leave it to some internet trolls to ruin it. Shortly after the picture went viral, people began speculating about the child’s sexuality, even cracking jokes about it:
Prince George is definitely going to be gay ??
— Mark Jolley (@MrMarkJolley) July 22, 2017
i'm so happy prince george is a fag
— sam (@lindsaylosam) July 24, 2017
Prince George is already a bigger gay icon to me than Boy George. pic.twitter.com/i1FM0jh4Vv
— Nathan Beard (@nathansbeard) July 21, 2017
literally only praying for this world to be saved so lil Prince George can ascend the throne and become the first gay ass King of England
— JamesMichael Nichols (@JMN) July 22, 2017
I hope Prince George turns out to be gay
— Dan (@spacezoots) July 22, 2017
i think Prince George is gay and he doesn't even know it yet
— Pedro L. Muniz ☀? (@placerdamuniz) July 22, 2017
Many were to quick to point out that it’s really not appropriate to joke about the potential sexuality of an innocent 4-year-old:
These tweets about Prince George being gay is sickening.
He's four years old you nonces.— Kev (@KevYga) July 23, 2017
#PrinceGeorge Is a Preschooler, Not Anyone’s “Gay Icon” or Receptacle for Your Gender Norms https://t.co/lii1V8le6B #LGBTQA pic.twitter.com/NtH8dmAcNx
— The Mary Sue (@TheMarySue) July 25, 2017
I'm EXTREMELY uncomfortable
seeing the sea of gay men
making a meme of that
Prince George photo
We should be better than that
He is a CHILD— Adam R (@MrAdamR) July 22, 2017
V v uncomfortable with all the people sharing that photo of Prince George and calling him gay. You're sexualising a four year old…?
— Alex (@alexjxmes) July 22, 2017
not to get discoursey on this fine evening but this thing of making gay jokes abt prince george cos hes limp wristed in a pic is a bit ?
— rick and morto (@DylanTeeBH) July 22, 2017
Others didn’t seem to get what all the fuss was about:
implying that prince george is gay or effeminate is only offensive if you see being gay or effeminate as a bad thing which makes you a dick
— Michael ✨ (@MJRgrs) July 23, 2017
it's not really homophobic if i think being gay & camp is positive. i like this photo because i see my young self in it
— Topnotch Boochington (@mothballsoup) July 24, 2017
What do you think? Did people go too far by joking about Prince George’s potential sexuality? Is it ever OK to speculate about a child’s potential sexual orientation? Why or why not? Sound off in the comments below…
