By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A viral tweet praising the sight of a competent-appearing woman involved in coronavirus response has Twitter users referencing Fun Home's "Ring of Keys."
A photo of a woman working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has inspired an outpouring of love for lesbians on Twitter from users who feel comforted in the face of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak by the sight of a woman assumed to be lesbian with a lanyard around her neck.
"First relief I've felt on the US COVID-19 response is the CDC posting this picture from their emergency operations center showing there is at least one lesbian with a keychain neck lanyard that jangles when she walks on the job," wrote Twitter user Taber (Bain).
None— Jen Bornemann (@Jen Bornemann) 1583774927
The post sparked a flood of tweets praising lesbians in charge with some references to the showstopper "Ring of Keys" from Fun Home, about a butch woman with whom the young lesbian main character feels a connection.
The tweet also met backlash for its assumption that the woman in the photo is a lesbian. While she didn't confirm her sexual identity, the subject of the photo, Jen Bornemann, weighed in on the post, encouraging people to practice good hygiene.
\u201c@taber Proudly fighting the good fight with my lanyard. #WashYourHands\u201d— Jen Bornemann (@Jen Bornemann) 1583774927
One Twitter user responded, "Jen, you're my most famous lanyard wearing key dangling lesbian friend."
Without making any assumptions about Bornemann's sexual identity, it's certain that her image started a conversation about how people respond to the depiction of an apparently competent woman.
One person on Twitter called the original tweet "[the] best recruitment of more lesbians into public health!"
Read some of the responses to Bornemann's picture below.
\u201c@taber Best anthem to accompany reassuring image: https://t.co/2jXnzC6lWi\u201d— Tim Teeman (@Tim Teeman) 1583784968
\u201c@TimTeeman @taber Tim u inspired me\u201d— Tim Teeman (@Tim Teeman) 1583784968
\u201c@taber\u201d— josette (@josette) 1583781686
\u201c@sophie_gadd @taber I'm envisioning a room filled with keychain neck lanyard wearing lesbians holding hands in a circle solving basically anything with their/our almighty power \u270a\u201d— Lara Mulady (@Lara Mulady) 1583762545
\u201c@taber @arthur_affect Oh thank god. If she has a second set of keys carabinered to a belt loop we're gonna have a vaccine in like 48 hours\u201d— Dr Meghan Purvis (@Dr Meghan Purvis) 1583739880
\u201c@taber Whew! We are saved by the competence inherent in the non-typical sexual preference of a single government employee!\u201d— Aldous Huxley's Ghost\u2122 (@Aldous Huxley's Ghost\u2122) 1583725922
\u201c@taber @JenBornemann You and your snazzy lanyard have put me at ease!\u201d— K Hurley (@K Hurley) 1583800634
