“Yes, I agree. Yes, for sure,” she said, nodding like she’d been thinking about the Gays of Hormuz her entire life. And just like that, a star was born — not her, the comedian — and the internet collectively lost its mind.
For those keeping score at home: The Gays of Hormuz do not exist. They have never existed. There is no community, no island, no support group, no brunch spot. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes, and it is currently the most contested piece of water on planet Earth because Iran decided to close it and start a war. The word “strait” refers to a narrow passage of water. It has nothing to do with anyone’s sexual orientation.
But Leede wasn’t done. He followed up: “Why do you think they’re willing to leave the gays of Hormuz behind?” And the protester — God bless her — launched into what sounded like a pre-loaded talking point about historical discrimination against the gay community, applied with absolute confidence to a fictional group of people she’d learned about four seconds earlier.
This is what we’re dealing with, folks.
The video racked up millions of views in hours. Senator Ted Cruz shared it on X with the caption, “We’re all doomed….” BlazeTV host Steve Deace watched it on his show, stood up from his desk, and literally walked off set without saying a word. Commentators compared Leede’s technique to Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G character, except Leede didn’t need a costume, a fake accent, or an HBO budget. He just needed one question and a protester who gets her geopolitical education from Instagram infographics.
Now look — we could laugh about this all day. And we should. It’s genuinely one of the funniest things to happen in American politics this year. But underneath the comedy is something that should genuinely terrify you about the state of our discourse.
This woman was at a political rally. She was protesting the president of the United States. She had opinions — strong ones — about foreign policy, war, and human rights. And she didn’t know what the Strait of Hormuz was. Not “couldn’t locate it on a map” — she didn’t know the word “strait” referred to a body of water. She heard “straits” and her brain autocorrected to “wait, what about the gays?” because that’s the only framework she has for processing information.
This is what happens when your entire political education comes from TikTok videos, protest chants, and whatever Trevor Noah’s replacement is saying these days. You end up at a rally screaming about a war you can’t explain, in a region you can’t find, over a waterway you’ve never heard of — and when a comedian makes up a fake marginalized group on the spot, you immediately pledge your solidarity because the algorithm trained you to support anything with the word “gay” in it.
These are the “No Kings” protesters. The ones who shut down highways and occupied federal buildings and told us they were the “resistance.” The intellectual vanguard of the anti-Trump movement. And they can be defeated by a pun.
The protests themselves have been a spectacle — three rounds of nationwide rallies where people who can’t name their own congressman march against “fascism” while wearing Nike shoes made in Chinese sweatshops. But this moment cut through all the noise. It wasn’t a political argument. It wasn’t left vs. right. It was a comedian proving, in real time, that a significant chunk of the activist class doesn’t actually understand what they’re protesting. They just know they’re supposed to be angry.
Remember: these people vote. They serve on juries. They post online reviews of your business. And apparently, they will passionately advocate for the rights of a waterway’s sexual orientation if you phrase the question correctly.
Lionel Leede, wherever you are, we salute you. You did more to expose the intellectual bankruptcy of the modern protest movement in 30 seconds than a thousand op-eds ever could. The Gays of Hormuz may not be real, but the laughs they’ve given us will last forever.
And to the protester — hey, no hard feelings. But maybe Google the topic before you grab the megaphone next time.