# No Cops At Pride > No Cops At Pride is a 2015 activist catchphrase that exploded into a 2018 snowclone meme replacing 'cops' with absurd celebrities and fictional characters carrying ridiculous weapons, blending political critique with surreal humor. "No Cops At Pride" is a catchphrase and snowclone meme format rooted in LGBTQ+ activist discourse about police presence at Pride celebrations. The phrase first appeared on Twitter in 2015 but exploded into a viral meme format during Pride season 2018, when users began appending absurd alternatives to police. The core joke follows a simple template: "no cops at pride, just [celebrity or fictional character with a ridiculous weapon or item]," blending genuine political critique with the internet's love of surreal humor. ## Origin The debate over police at Pride is far older than the meme itself. LGBTQ+ liberation began as direct confrontation with police at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, and many activists have long argued that cops have no place at celebrations born from anti-police resistance[3]. The earliest known use of "no cops at Pride" as an online phrase came from Twitter user @TinyAwoo on August 1, 2015[4]. The tweet referenced the NYPD beating a gay man while singing homophobic slurs, connecting it to the original Pride events as "rallies against police brutality against queer folk." The post received modest engagement, with around 10 retweets and 10 likes[4]. The phrase circulated within activist communities for the next few years without breaking into mainstream meme culture. Real-world events kept the conversation alive: in 2017, Toronto Pride banned police from marching in uniform after organizers agreed to demands from the local Black Lives Matter chapter[2]. That same year, a police officer attacked a trans woman at a Florida Pride event, and Phoenix activists shut down their parade to protest police presence[2]. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** @TinyAwoo (earliest known online post), @destroyerofego (viral amplification), @faketadhg (popularized "just..." format) - **Date:** 2015 (earliest online use), 2018 (viral spread) ## Overview No Cops At Pride is both a political slogan and an endlessly remixable meme template. The base format is straightforward: state that cops shouldn't be at Pride, then propose an absurd replacement for security. The humor comes from pairing well-known pop culture figures with comically inadequate or bizarre "weapons." Think Carly Rae Jepsen wielding a sword, Hilary Duff hoisting a barrel over her head, or John Mulaney throwing a money clip at attackers[1]. The meme straddles the line between sincere activism and internet comedy. For many LGBTQ+ people, the phrase carries real weight, connecting back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and ongoing tensions between queer communities and law enforcement[2]. For the wider internet, it functions as a particularly fun Cards Against Humanity-style fill-in-the-blank game with a political edge[2]. ## How It Spread The meme detonated in the spring of 2018. On May 23rd, Twitter user @destroyerofego posted the phrase eight times in all caps in a single tweet. It pulled in over 6,300 retweets and 28,000 likes[4]. Within days, the format mutated. Twitter user @nightfiIm added the twist that would define the meme, tweeting "no cops at pride just thor and a squad of buff lesbians with wide varieties of swords and daggers." That post earned around 800 retweets and 2,500 likes[4]. The next day, @faketadhg refined the formula to its purest version: "no cops at pride just carly rae jepsen and her sword." This one hit 15,000 retweets and 63,000 likes in two weeks, building on the pre-existing "give Carly Rae Jepsen a sword" Pride meme[4]. Danny DeVito's actual appearance at the Los Angeles Pride parade in June 2018 with his *It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia* costars threw gasoline on the fire. Twitter user @hattiesoykan tweeted "no cops at pride just danny devito," which blew up to 25,000 retweets and 94,000 likes in three days[1]. DeVito's "trollfoot gay pride" march gave the meme a real-world anchor that made it even more shareable[1]. The format spread rapidly across Twitter. Users proposed Hilary Duff holding a barrel over her head, Andrew Garfield brandishing his Tony Award for *Angels in America*, Anne Hathaway with a very small knife, and Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett with their *Ocean's 8* bubble guns[1]. Fictional characters got drafted too, with Thor, Bucky Barnes, and Drax all enlisted for Pride defense duty[1]. Drag queen Katya Zamolodchikova and her scooter made the roster, as did K-pop group Loona with unspecified weapons[1]. *Them* and the *Daily Dot* both published coverage of the meme in June 2018[4]. *Them* framed it as a follow-up to 2017's Gay Babadook meme, noting that while the Babadook captured the "dadaist absurdity and visceral fear of 2017," No Cops At Pride channeled 2018's mood of "rage" and a return to radical protest roots[2]. The meme coincided with real incidents that underscored its political dimension. During the 2018 Philadelphia Pride celebration, police arrested a young trans woman. She was booked using her deadname and transferred to a maximum security men's prison, illustrating exactly the kind of police hostility toward LGBTQ+ people that the meme critiques[1]. ## How to Use The template is simple: 1. Start with "no cops at pride" (or "no police at pride") 2. Add "just" followed by a person, character, or group 3. Pair them with an absurd, impractical, or hilariously specific item as their "weapon" ## Cultural Impact *Them* argued that the meme's popularity might signal something bigger than just a funny Pride format. The widespread, casual adoption of a phrase calling for police exclusion from Pride, alongside the growing "Abolish ICE" movement on social media, suggested a leftward shift in mainstream queer politics toward bolder demands[2]. The discussion around cops at Pride only intensified in the years following the meme's peak. The debate played out at Pride events across North America, with some organizations banning uniformed police participation and others welcoming them. Brooklyn Pride saw boos rain down on an NYPD "Gay Pride Cruiser" rolling through the parade[3]. The anti-police argument draws on hard data. LGB people face incarceration at three times the rate of heterosexuals, and transgender people at eight times the rate of cisgender people[3]. Correctional and patrol officers are responsible for roughly half of sexual assaults in U.S. prisons, with 59% of those assaults committed against transgender people[3]. For many, these statistics make the meme's core message more than a punchline. The pro-inclusion camp pointed to events like the Patriot Front convoy intercepted in Idaho as evidence that police protect queer communities[3]. The tension between these positions made No Cops At Pride one of the few memes that functions as both comedy and genuine political litmus test. ## Fun Facts - The year before No Cops At Pride went viral, the "Big Queer Mood" meme of Pride 2017 was the Gay Babadook, a wildly different vibe[2]. - Danny DeVito wasn't just a meme. He actually showed up to LA Pride 2018 with the *It's Always Sunny* cast, making him the rare celebrity who became the meme and then lived it[1]. - The John Mulaney money clip entry referenced a specific bit from his Netflix special where he describes throwing a money clip at a mugger and running away. The meme community appreciated the deep-cut specificity[1]. - One commenter noted the evolution from "give Carly Rae Jepsen a sword" to "give Hilary Duff a barrel" as a sign that the meme was entering its "more alarming, and slightly more abstract" phase[1]. - The phrase predated its meme status by at least three years, existing in activist spaces before the internet turned it into a format[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is No Cops At Pride? No Cops At Pride is a catchphrase and meme format where users propose absurd alternatives to police presence at Pride celebrations, typically pairing celebrities or fictional characters with ridiculous weapons[1]. ### Where did No Cops At Pride come from? The earliest known online use was a tweet by @TinyAwoo on August 1, 2015, connecting police violence against LGBTQ+ people to the argument that cops don't belong at Pride[4]. ### What does No Cops At Pride mean? On a surface level, it's a joke format. On a deeper level, it's a political statement rooted in the Stonewall Riots and ongoing tensions between police and LGBTQ+ communities, arguing that law enforcement has no place at events born from resistance to police oppression[2]. ### How do you use No Cops At Pride? Write "no cops at pride just [person/character] and [their absurd weapon or item]." The funnier and more specific the pairing, the better the post lands[1]. ### Is No Cops At Pride still popular? The meme peaked during Pride 2018 but the underlying debate about police at Pride events remains active and contentious, resurfacing each June[3]. ### Why did Danny DeVito become the face of the meme? DeVito actually attended LA Pride 2018 with his *It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia* costars, and the tweet "no cops at pride just danny devito" by @hattiesoykan hit 94,000 likes in three days[4]. ### What's the connection to Carly Rae Jepsen? CRJ was already the subject of a Pride-adjacent meme ("give Carly Rae Jepsen a sword") that predated and directly fed into the No Cops format. The tweet by @faketadhg combining the two pulled 63,000 likes[4]. ### What happened at Philadelphia Pride in 2018? Police arrested a young trans woman, booked her using her deadname, and transferred her to a maximum security men's prison, an incident that reinforced the meme's political message about police hostility toward LGBTQ+ people[1]. ### Did Toronto actually ban cops from Pride? Toronto Pride disallowed police from marching in uniform after organizers agreed to demands from the local Black Lives Matter chapter[2]. ### Is the meme just a joke or is it political? Both. *Them* described it as a format that "simultaneously communicates our anger and satisfies our warped sense of internet humor," and the political sincerity and comedic absurdity work together rather than undermining each other[2]. ## References 1. ['No Cops at Pride' Meme: Danny DeVito, Hilary Duff, Carly Rae Jepsen Are Here to Protect the LGBTQ Community]() 2. ['No Cops at Pride' Is the Radical Meme We've Been Waiting For | Them]() 3. ['No Cops at Pride' Meme: Danny DeVito, Hilary Duff, Carly Rae Jepsen Are Here to Protect the LGBTQ Community]() 4. [No Cops At Pride - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Karen (slang)]() 6. [No Cops at Pride: An Explainer - INTO]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/no-cops-at-pride Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library