# Gay Clown Putin Gay Clown Putin is a series of photoshopped images showing Russian President Vladimir Putin painted in loud clown-style makeup, often against a rainbow flag. The pictures started in 2013 as protest art against Russia's anti-LGBT propaganda law, then exploded on Reddit in March 2017 after Russia officially banned them. ## Overview Gay Clown Putin is a family of photoshopped portraits that show Russian President Vladimir Putin caked in loud clown-style makeup, most often with a rainbow flag behind him[3]. The pictures were made as protest art against the Russian anti-LGBT propaganda law passed in 2013[1]. Widespread meme fame came in 2017 after Russia officially banned the images, a textbook Streisand Effect moment that pushed millions of new eyes onto the pictures[4]. The visual template is easy to spot: presidential-style portraits recolored with teal eye shadow, pink lipstick, blush, and sometimes bright yellow hair, occasionally stamped with slogans about homophobia written across Putin's forehead[4]. ## How It Spread On August 23rd, 2013, Getty photographer Denis Doyle shot a demonstrator standing outside the Russian embassy in Madrid holding a placard of a made-up Putin with 'Stop Homofobia' written across his forehead[1]. In October 2015, a Russian WordPress blog called Kosmologelei posted more Putin edits featuring blush and eye shadow, keeping the joke alive in Russian-language corners of the internet[4]. The meme broke out on March 30th, 2017, when Russia's Justice Ministry added the images to its Federal List of Extremist Materials[4]. That same evening, Reddit user GorillaS0up posted a Putin-with-LGBT-flag edit to /r/pics under the headline 'This image is now illegal in Russia,' pulling roughly 279,000 votes and 4,100 comments in 14 hours[2]. The picture also crossed the front page of /r/ImGoingtoGulagforThis[5] and /r/ImGoingToHellForThis[6] within the same news cycle. On April 6th, 2017, Redditor TheDavyStar launched the /r/GayClownPutin subreddit, kicking it off with a post of Putin sporting yellow hair, teal eye shadow, and pink lipstick that pulled more than 1,800 votes inside seven hours[3]. Later that same day, Redditor NUDEandCONFUSED remixed the format by pasting Putin onto the Bearsharktopus and posting it to /r/MemeEconomy[3]. ## How to Use A typical Gay Clown Putin edit starts with an official-looking Putin portrait that is then repainted with heavy clown-style makeup: teal or bright eye shadow, pink lipstick, blush, and often yellow hair[3]. Common versions layer a rainbow flag or pride colors into the background, and some add text like 'Stop Homofobia' across the forehead as a callback to the 2013 Madrid protest sign[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Gay Clown Putin? Gay Clown Putin is a series of photoshopped images that show Vladimir Putin wearing colorful clown-style makeup, most often paired with a rainbow flag background[4]. ### Where did Gay Clown Putin come from? The first images were posted in April 2013 on a Tumblr blog called Putin A Rainbow, which was set up to protest Russia's ban on so-called gay propaganda[4]. ### What does Gay Clown Putin mean? The images are protest art aimed at Russia's anti-LGBT laws, and they turned into a Streisand Effect meme after Russian authorities officially banned them in March 2017[1]. ### How do you use Gay Clown Putin? People take an official Putin portrait and edit it with clown makeup, teal eye shadow, pink lipstick, and often yellow hair, typically over a rainbow flag background[3]. ### Is Gay Clown Putin still popular? The images peaked in early April 2017 during the Reddit surge tied to Russia's ban, with follow-up remixes hosted on the /r/GayClownPutin subreddit and cross-posts to /r/MemeEconomy[3]. ## References 1. [https://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2013/08/23/vladimir_putin_bans_protests_in_sochi_during_the_olympics_will_the_games.html]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/]() 3. [https://www.reddit.com/r/GayClownPutin/]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gay-clown-putin]() 5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ImGoingtoGulagforThis/]() 6. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ImGoingToHellForThis/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/gay-clown-putin Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library