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Actor Nick Offerman had no patience for an X user who took a Parks and Recreation gif and turned it into an anti-Pride meme. His response turned homophobic imagery posted on the first day of Pride Month into a celebratory moment for the LGBTQ+ community.
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Though Ron Swanson was a self-described libertarian, he rejected bigotry and would have told the government to stay out of queer folks’ business.
The Pride of Nick Offerman
On June 1, right-wing X user @realmflynnJR posted an altered version of a popular GIF of Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson throwing his computer in a dumpster. Michael Flynn Jr., son of President Donald Trump’s former U.S. national security advisor, replaced the computer with a Pride flag.
“No quotes today,” he wrote. “Just wanted to post how I feel about ‘Pride’ month.”
The next day, Nick Offerman discovered the Pride-hating post and used Swanson’s characteristic gruffness to respond.
“Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb f*ck,” he said in a quote tweet.
Swanson performed this honor for characters Craig and Typhoon in the series finale. Not only that, but he was also an unashamed patron of the local Pawnee gay bar The Bulge.
Offerman himself also played a gay character in a highly acclaimed episode of The Last of Us that celebrated the relationship between two older men trapped in a zombie apocalypse together. During his acceptance speech for the Independent Spirit Award he won for that performance, he condemned homophobia.
“Thanks to HBO for having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent,” he said. “Stories with guts that when homophobic hate comes my way, and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’ we say, ‘Because you ask questions like that.’”
That’s one brutal ratio
The difference between the response to Flynn’s post vs. Offerman’s suggests that bigoted hate hasn’t yet entirely overrun X. Flynn Jr. got just 2,800 likes with his gif alongside 2,300 comments, while Offerman gained over 429,000 likes.
LGBTQ+ folks, allies, and Parks and Recreation fans came in droves to praise this fantastic kick off to Pride Month 2025—and, occasionally, to rub it in some deserving faces.
“General Sidney just put the homophobes in their place,” said @trygraptor with an image of another Offerman character.
User @TheAlexisKraft referenced another moment in Parks and Recreation in which Leslie Knope rubs her arm on Swanson’s face.
“I have goosebumps. Feel,” she says.
Meanwhile, @mutedcredits replied to Flynn with Offerman’s response just to make sure the man knows what’s up.
“Every piece of art you have ever enjoyed is made by people who hate you,” they pointed out.
“Imagine getting raked over the coals by Ron Swanson himself,” wrote @sharii_ann. “Dude should just deactivate.”
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