A straight man in Oklahoma has gone viral for a wholesome and supportive message printed on his pickup truck to celebrate Pride Month.
Living in Oklahoma's Hubert - a small town consisting of around 600 people, the majority of which voted for Donald Trump - Cody Barlow has taken the time to put a simple message on the back of his pickup truck: "Not all country boys are bigots — Happy Pride month."
Posting to Facebook, Barlow explained that in order to create the message, he "simply bought rolls of brightly colored duct tape and ran them across my tailgate in the design of the pride flag, and added some mailbox letters."
"This is important to me, not only because I have family and friends that are LGBTQ+, but also because countless people have dealt with hatred and judgment simply for who they are, and/or who they love, for far too long," he continued in his Facebook post, which has been shared thousands of times since being shared publicly.
"Obviously doing this isn't going to change the minds of those who are intolerant, but hopefully it can help drown out the hatred with love. I live in a rural area in Oklahoma, surrounded by small towns in every direction, and I'm sure this is not a very welcome message around here, but this is going to be displayed on my truck for the entire month of June in support of pride month.
"I don't think it is necessary to say, but for all intents and purposes I am a straight man that grew up here in Oklahoma. I love taking my truck mudding, going fishing, swimming at the lake, floating the river, and several other 'country' activities.
"It doesn't matter what negativity I receive for supporting this. I hope that this can help even the slightest bit to encourage and support at least one person that needs it.
"I hope everyone finds their inner strength to finally live life loud and proud without regard for the negativity of ignorant people.
"Happy pride month!"
Red states like Oklahoma get somewhat of a bad rep when it comes to LGBTQ+ issues - last year, Oklahoma passed a bill that discriminated against same-sex couples from adopting and raising children. But according to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 8,200 same-sex couples living in Oklahoma, with a little over one in four raising a child under the age of 18.
