Why it’s time to shelve the ‘Millie Bobby Brown is homophobic’ meme
Millie Bobby Brown has previously denounced a meme trend jokingly portraying her as homophobic. (Getty)
Millie Bobby Brown has previously denounced a meme trend jokingly portraying her as homophobic. (Getty)
Why do people keep memeing Millie Bobby Brown and calling her homophobic? With Pride Month in full swing, social media is once again flooded with memes jokingly portraying Millie Bobby Brown as a homophobe.
This meme has been circulating for years and typically involves users adding fake anti-LGBTQ+ quotes onto images of Millie.
The ironic posts are all part of the satirical but sinister ‘Millie Bobby Brown is homophobic’ meme that first began circulating in 2018 and actually led to the actor shutting down her Twitter account.
Of course, Millie Bobby Brown is not homophobic and has in fact been a vocal LGBTQ+ ally since behind propelled to global fame as Eleven on Stranger Things back in 2016. So just what’s going on here?
What is the meme and when did it start?
Joke online posts falsely claiming that Millie Bobby Brown was homophobic first began circulating in late 2017, when the actor was still just 13 years old.
Designed to be humorous in its absurdity, the meme quickly became dark and uncomfortable as it continued to grow during 2018, with violent imagery such as a video of a car being driven into protestors being accompanied by the caption “Millie Bobby Brown arriving at Pride.”
Meanwhile, doctored images attributed obviously false quotes to the teenage star.
Many of the original posts were accompanied by the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown, adding a hostile undertone to the meme during a time when the young star was still navigating her first few years in the spotlight.
In 2018, Brown quit Twitter as the viral posts continued to circulate and grow in popularity. The Emmy-nominated star has not returned to the platform since, save for a lone tweet in 2019 that reads “hi. i missed u”.
Millie Bobby Brown is in fact a vocal LGBTQ+ ally
After quitting Twitter, Brown addressed the online harassment while accepting the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Performance in 2018.
“Since I know there are many young people watching this – and even to the adults, too; they could probably use the reminder – that I was taught that if you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it,” the actress said at the time.
In the years since, Brown has continued to demonstrate her support for the LGBTQ+ community, regularly denouncing bullying and speaking sensitively and supportively about Stranger Things character Will Byers, who fans had speculated was gay before it was later confirmed by actor Noah Schnapp.
“Can I just say, it’s 2022 and we don’t have to label things,” Brown told Variety while discussing speculation about the character’s sexuality.
“I think what’s really nice about Will’s character is that he’s just a human being going through his own personal demons and issues.
“So many kids out there don’t know, and that’s OK. That’s OK to not know. And that’s OK not to label things.”
Many fans online also called for an end to the ‘Millie Bobby Brown is homophobic’ meme in the wake of her Stranger Things co-star Noah Schnapp coming out as gay in 2023, with one Twitter user branding the ongoing joke “tired”.
Another wrote: “if you’re using Noah Schnapp’s coming out as an excuse to make weird “jokes” about Millie Bobby Brown then imma need you to log out for me.”
While initially designed to be funny, it’s clear from Brown’s own actions that joke homophobia accusations have taken a mental toll on the teenage star, and in an age of internet misinformation, this is one meme that should definitely be shelved.
