A Facebook post that showed an intimate moment between two women — one “femme,” the other “stem”— has been taken down by the administrator of a group that pushes for Canadians to use home-produced oil over foreign imports, reported BuzzFeed.
If you’re asking, what on earth do lesbians have in common with Canadian oil to explain this post, you’re not alone. Here’s but one example of the response the post generated on social media:
Jaw-droppingly awful: hetero-masculine lasciviousness over lesbians + ignorant orientalism as selling point for oil? pic.twitter.com/2H76dgczFw
— Laleh Khalili (@LalehKhalili) July 25, 2016
So let’s figure this out together. The post declares lesbians are considered “hot” in Canada, but in oil-rich Saudi Arabia not so hot, or to the point, punishable by death for being who they are.
“Why are we getting oil from countries that don’t think lesbians are hot?” the poster asks. “Choose equality! Choose Canadian oil!” Aha, it’s a message post! But the only message that got through was sexist, xenophobic and very unwelcome, as evidenced by the response on Facebook and Twitter.
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C'mon guys, just jump straight to patriotic hot lesbian oil wrestling.
Canada Oilsands: We fuel Excitement!— ¡ǝʞılℲ ʎǝH (@Hey_Flike) July 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/prairie_femme/status/757706847683878913
Ultimately, admin Robbie Picard of Fort MacMurray, Canada, took down the post and replaced it with an apology, citing his own sexual orientation as some kind of excuse:
Picard at first defended his post to a Canadian newspaper, telling the National Post: “When I say lesbians are hot, I don’t think there is anything wrong about saying that,” he said.
“I think all lesbians are hot and I’m not opposed to putting a picture of two guys up there.” And to prove his point, he did just that:
But that only opened him up to more social media ridicule: