# Same Sex Marriage Just Won't Fly
Pat Cross's July 2022 political cartoon tried to argue against same-sex marriage by drawing a plane with wings labeled 'man' and 'woman' next to a doomed plane with both wings on one side labeled 'man.' After @mattxiv shared a captioned version titled 'Same-sex Marriage Just Won't Fly' on July 27, 2022, Twitter users spent the next week producing polycule planes, biplane jokes, and flight simulator videos proving the gay plane could actually take off.
## Origin
Pat Cross, a Catholic political cartoonist whose work runs in the National Catholic Register, National Review and First Things, published the drawing on his blog on July 18, 2022[1]. The National Catholic Register ran it two days later with the caption 'Same-sex Marriage Just Won't Fly'[2].
Twitter user @mattxiv screenshotted the Register version on July 27, 2022, and posted it without added commentary[4]. The tweet gained over 34,000 retweets and 492,000 likes within two days[3].
- **Platform:** Pat Cross blog (artwork) / Twitter (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Pat Cross
- **Date:** 2022
## Overview
Cross's argument hinges on an aerodynamics analogy where wings must balance opposite sides of a fuselage, so a plane with two left wings cannot stay airborne[1]. Twitter edits that followed the viral screenshot largely ignored that premise, using the two-plane layout as an exploitable[3]. Common variations relabeled wings for polycules, drew biplanes to represent bisexuality, or pointed at real aircraft with unusual wing configurations that fly fine.
A second category of jokes attacked the physics directly. Users produced flight simulator footage of the 'man/man' plane in the air, dug up photos of asymmetric aircraft, and cited the 1983 incident in which an Israeli Air Force F-15 landed safely after losing most of a wing in a mid-air collision[5]. The pile-on turned Cross's cartoon into one of the stronger self-own moments of mid-2022 political Twitter.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Same Sex Marriage Just Won't Fly?
It is a 2022 political cartoon by Pat Cross arguing against same-sex marriage with an airplane metaphor, which Twitter users turned into an exploitable template and mocked with flight simulator videos[1][10].
### Where did Same Sex Marriage Just Won't Fly come from?
Pat Cross posted the drawing to his blog on July 18, 2022, and the National Catholic Register published it two days later with the title that stuck[1][2].
### What does Same Sex Marriage Just Won't Fly mean?
Cross intended a visual argument that same-sex pairings cannot work, comparing them to a plane with two wings on one side, but the online response reframed it as a self-own by showing real aircraft that do fly with similar designs[5][10].
### How do you use Same Sex Marriage Just Won't Fly?
Edits typically keep the two-plane layout and relabel or add wings, with popular variants including polycule planes, bisexual biplanes, and F-15 'one wing' jokes[6][9].
### Is Same Sex Marriage Just Won't Fly still popular?
Engagement spiked between July 27 and July 28, 2022, and dropped off within the following week, so it is now treated as a short-lived Twitter dunk rather than an active format[3][4].
## References
1. [https://patcrosscartoons.com/2022/07/18/marriage/]()
2. [https://www.ncregister.com/cartoons/pat-cross-20220720-42m8ef5b]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/same-sex-marriage-just-wont-fly]()
4. [https://twitter.com/mattxiv/status/1552298506177724418]()
5. [https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/that-time-an-f-15-landed-without-a-wing/]()
6. [https://twitter.com/datagurl77/status/1552825349834059776]()
7. [https://twitter.com/BadRaccShow/status/1552806831537344512]()
8. [https://twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/1552514471582699520]()
9. [https://twitter.com/LiaOfTheBay/status/1552808839942230016]()
10. [https://x.com/i/status/1552735873430700032]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/same-sex-marriage-just-wont-fly
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