Photo by David Larivière on Unsplash
A viral photo of a pickup truck has got us smiling.
While the internet is still reeling from the controversial video of Pose star Indya Moore fighting a Trump supporter in front of the show’s New York City studio, another source of media is gaining steam for its positive message.
28-year-old Cody Barlow posted a picture of his truck this past Thursday (June 6), and the photo is now trending online with over 126K likes. The photo has gone viral because the truck’s back has been covered with duct tape and fashioned like the rainbow Pride Flag.
“Not all country boys are bigots,” wrote Barlow around the rainbow flag, “Happy Pride Month.”
To caption the photo, which has been shared over 75 thousand times, Barlow stated that he wanted to express his support of LGBTQ rights and pride month.
“This is important to me, not only because I have family and friends that are LGBTQ+, but also because countless people have dealt with hatred and judgement simply for who they are, and/or who they love, for far too long,” Barlow’s Facebook post reads. “Obviously doing this isn’t going to change the minds of those who are intolerant, but hopefully it can help drown out the hatred with love,” shared Barlow.
He then added that as a “straight man that grew up here in Oklahoma, I love taking my truck mudding, going fishing, swimming at the lake, floating the river, and several other ‘country’ activities.”
Photo by Peter Hershey on Unsplash
As Barlow told CNN, he decided to make the statement after missing the Tulsa Pride Parade. He hopes to drive the truck around in his majority Christian and conservative community as a sign of support. In addition, he plans to make appearances with his truck at other Pride parades in the state for the rest of the month.
“I hope that this can help even the slightest bit to encourage and support at least one person that needs it,” he wrote. “I hope everyone finds their inner strength to finally live life loud and proud without regard for the negativity of ignorant people.”
Cody Barlow states that while he initially received a lot of hateful messages and comments for sharing the picture, positive responses of thanks soon outweighed the bad. That has encouraged him to keep the message up, and to be a supportive ally any way he can.
“Even if it helps one person, it’s worth it,” he said.
We wish there were more people like Cody.
