The day "Macri hetero" became an insult and a Twitter trend

A piece of graffiti on the Cabildo (City Hall) insulting the Argentine president by saying "Macri is hetero" caused a stir in the media and on social networks, to the point that the phrase became a trending topic on Twitter. Why did it generate so much controversy?

September 3, 2017

A piece of graffiti on the Cabildo (the old city hall building) insulting the Argentine president by saying "Macri is straight" sparked outrage in the media and on social networks, to the point that the phrase became a trending topic on Twitter. Why did it cause such a stir? A day after the massive march demanding the safe return of Santiago Maldonado, a young man last seen on August 1st fleeing repression by the National Gendarmerie in the department of Cushamen, Chubut province, some Argentine media outlets were scandalized by the graffiti on the walls, particularly on the Cabildo building, facing Plaza de Mayo. The mainstream media reports didn't emphasize the brutal police repression at the end of the march—which resulted in some 30 arrests and attacks on journalists—nor the peaceful mobilization that flooded the streets with more than 250,000 people, but rather the graffiti. One of them particularly caught attention and spread to the point of becoming a trending topic on Twitter. The use of "hetero" as an insult to the president of Argentina stirred up a storm on social media and prompted several people to explain why "heterosexual" would be offensive and what was really being discussed.

This explanation on Facebook by Pablo Fracchia went viral:

"Heteronormativity is a social, political, and economic system that presents heterosexuality as the only valid model of sexual and emotional relationships and kinship. It is reinforced by social mechanisms such as the marginalization, invisibility, or persecution of anything non-heterosexual." Today I had to explain this graffiti several times. And I see it's trending on Twitter. Surely if it said "Macri Faggot" it would have gone completely unnoticed, because of course, "faggot" is what we use to denigrate, to insult someone. You hear it at the stadium, in a road rage incident, at school, and among friends. Suddenly, this graffiti challenges you. How is it that heterosexuality, YOUR heterosexuality, YOUR identity, the one that isn't questioned because it's "natural," is now something used to attack? It doesn't make sense, it bothers you. Something's off. Take advantage of this little explosion in your head to reflect on the privileges of heterosexuality and realize the small, everyday things you do or say that make gay people feel less worthy for who we are. Macri isn't gay. He's a liberal. Take responsibility; he's heterosexual. Because it's already too much to have to live in a world that teaches us to be ashamed of ourselves, without them wanting to burden us with this baggage. Do your patriotic duty, deconstruct the heterosexual mindset.

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