On Friday morning, Mike Mason, known to his Twitter followers as @Mikey_Talks, tweeted a few stellar selfies of himself along with the caption, "If you came to slay tonight, say I slay!" Afterward, #BlackGaySlay was born.
According to his Twitter, Mason wanted to highlight black queer people since "It's way too many white gays in #BoysKissBoysSelfies," another tag that caters gay people, though it's overwhelmingly white.
Mikey also noted on his account that "gay" was used as an umbrella term for the tag, and he welcomes all types of LGBT-identifying black people to celebrate themselves in the hashtag.
Soon after Mikey's initial tweet was sent out, several people began blessing their respective timelines with incredible selfies β and to say that they ~delivered~ would be an understatement.
People posted their most fire selfies, exuding confidence and killing it in flawless fashions.
They slayed in makeup.
They slayed in glasses.
And they slayed in different hairstyles.
Queer people of all shapes and sizes dominated the tag, too.
Mikey created an inclusive trend for black LGBT people to unapologetically be themselves.
Naturally, there were tons of people who looked on and praised the beauty of the movement.
Folks could not get enough.
And some were a little shook.
In a word, it was fierce.
Mason added that seeing people take to his hashtag made him "really emotional."
They came.
They slayed.
And they conquered.
Phew.
Per Mason's Twitter, the hashtag is something that he'd like to make a regular occurrence.
"For everybody that has been harassed or attacked in this tag, I want them to know they're valid in loving themselves ... I just want them to stay strong and do their best to keep slaying," Mason said.
UPDATE
This post has been updated to include quotes from Mike Mason, the creator of the hashtag.