Meet Tyler Cherry, the impressive new comms director for the Interior Department who homophobes can’t stand

If you mess with the gays, you’re going to get the horns. And some well-earned social media sass.

In an effort to stoke some right-wing backlash, conservative “news” network The Blaze decided to post a picture of Tyler Cherry, the new Communications Director for the Department of the Interior.

No context. No mention of their political record. Just a photo where, let’s be real, they were slaying in a striped blazer, black turtleneck, and gold hoop earrings. It must have been a slow news day.

Aside from being problematic, not relevant, and mean-spirited, the tweet was especially stupid because of Cherry’s many, many achievements in Washington, D.C.

Before joining the Department of Interior, Cherry served as Director of Rapid Response for the Biden-Harris team’s Arizona campaign and Director of Public Affairs at political consulting firm SKDK.

In 2023, they appeared on Forbes‘ 30 Under 30 – Media list. The Los Angeles native, who graduated from UCLA, has worked extensively in helping the Biden-Harris administration share their progress in environmental protections, advancing clean energy, and conservation with the media.

As they told Forbes, their greatest achievement is “serving as the spokesperson for the first Indigenous Cabinet Secretary in U.S. history, Deb Haaland.”

Haaland was recently named one of Washingtonian‘s Most Powerful Women in Washington and President Biden touted the administration’s advances in “delivering on the most ambitious climate agenda in history” in a post on Twitter X.

According to LinkedIn, Cherry lives in D.C. with their husband and “two exuberant cats,” which is just adorable.

Fittingly, LGBTQ+ users and allies took to social media to both defend Cherry and call out The Blaze’s tired and offensive post.

Some users remarked that it was another example of hypocritical conservatism –– and just plain mean. “Nothing says Christian like judging someone based off of their appearance,” @Sipowicz1042 replied.

Others went even further by reminding us what the founder of The Blaze looks like. (Shudder. Click at your own risk.)

And?— Piccolo Pete (Lizzie) (@pete_piccolo) October 5, 2023

As a non-elected official, Cherry really shouldn’t be used as a pawn to provoke political outrage, especially considering the Department of the Interior’s success and importance in the nation.

Furthermore, we’re still eons away from seeing enough queer representation on Capitol Hill. While an annual study by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute found that there are “at least 1,185” LGBTQ+ people serving office –– a record number and more than double the figures in 2017 –– the country is still far from “equitable representation” in office.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute addressed the vicious social media posts in a statement on Friday, writing, “Did the appointees do anything but be trans or GNC? No. But hey! That’s the business of bigotry… We’re so grateful to all out appointees & applaud their services.”

At least we’ve got the LGBTQ+ fam to lean on when the trolls come out. And at the end of the day, gays are going to do what we do best: make sh*t happen in communications… and make some pretty funny jokes on social media.

Here are more of our favorite responses from the LGBTQ+ community.

Wow looks like he has way more friends than you and goes to way cooler parties— Jawn Luice (@JohnLoosWins) October 6, 2023

are government employees not supposed to be super hot or something?— charles r. davis (@charizardavis) October 5, 2023

Queer people are boring government drones now sorry you just heard— Ryan (@SadPaleTwink) October 6, 2023

pic.twitter.com/pZuZ58UsLn— SDL (@SocDoneLeft) October 5, 2023