LGBT People Are Celebrating Their Community Using New Hashtag

Logging on to Twitter can often bring a lot of bad news, whether it's what's actually happening in the world or people trolling or cyberbullying. Between that and the negative impact social media can have on our mental health, it's understandable that we sometimes just want to or need to log off. But for those of us who keep logging back on (which is most of us tbh), things like a new hashtag celebrating LGBT people can be social media's saving grace.

Twitter user @thegaycatlady started #itsthelgbt to celebrate the LGBT community, and it's really taken off. People all over the place are posting selfies under the tag after @thegaycatlady encouraged them.

"If you're gay and you know it and you really wanna show it, join the hashtag #itsthelgbt," she wrote.

And people listened.

Of course, this is not the first hashtag celebrating the LGBT community. There's #blackgayslay, and this week in particular people are using #biweek to call attention to bisexual awareness week. With so many hashtags encouraging LGBT people to show their pride online, a lot of posters under #itsthelgbt are saying they're recycling selfies from old tags or noting that they've just done this before.

It's great news that people have so many opportunities online to celebrate their sexuality, especially when the internet can often be a place that LGBT people face hatred and bullying. But others are posting under an LGBT tag for the first time ever, some having just come out.

No matter how long you've been out, how many times you've posted under an LGBT hashtag, or whether you've never done it at all, any chance to celebrate yourself and your community, or to see other people like you being proud and happy, can be a beautiful thing.

Related: How to Be a Good Ally During Pride Month