Gaysper is an

LGBT symbol Over the course of its history, the LGBTQ community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both wi ...

based on the

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

(U+1F47B, "👻") of

Android 5.0 Android Lollipop ( codenamed Android L during development) is the fifth major version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google and the 12th version of Android, spanning versions between 5.0 and 5.1.1. Unveiled on June 25, 20 ...

. It is a modification of the original icon that uses a background with the colors of the

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. History In the 18th century, American Revolutionary ...

. It became popular in Spain from April 2019 following a tweet posted on the official account of the populist far-right party Vox, after which a multitude of users belonging to the

LGBT movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their i ...

began to use it as a symbol. The icon has established itself as an example of the phenomenon of

reappropriation In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i. ...

of elements of the anti-LGBT discourse in contemporary society through social networks.

Origin and popularization

On 28 April 2019,

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

were being held in Spain. The same day, the populist right-wing party Vox shared a controversial tweet in which it invited its voters to vote through the claim "Let the battle begin!". The message was accompanied by a

photomontage Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final imag ...

Aragorn Aragorn () is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn is a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of ...

, a protagonist of the ''

Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually developed into ...

'' saga, in which he appeared facing a crowd of

orcs An orc (sometimes spelt ork; ), in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also calls "goblin". In Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', orcs appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevol ...

, whose figure had been modified and replaced with symbols contrary to the party's ideology: the feminist symbol, the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

, the

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

and the

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement (; ; ) is a Social movement, social and political movement with roots in Catalan nationalism that seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. While proposals, organizations and individuals advocating for Ca ...

estelada The Estelada (; pl. ''Estelades''; full name ''Senyera estelada'', , from ''estel'', "star") is a flag flown by Catalan independence, Catalan independence supporters to express their support for an independent Catalonia or independent ''Països ...

, several logos of media outlets such as ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' or ''

Cadena SER La Cadena SER (the SER Network) is a Spanish radio network established in 1924, with a regular listenership of 4,139,000 reported in 2018. The acronym SER stands for Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión (Spanish Broadcasting Company). Cadena SE ...

'', the symbol of the

raised fist The raised fist, or the clenched fist, is a long-standing image of mixed meaning, often a symbol of solidarity, especially with a political movement. It is a common symbol representing a wide range of political ideologies, most notably socialism, ...

, the symbol of the

anti-fascist movement Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

and, among them, a modified version of the ghost emoji (👻) of the Android 5.0 version with the colors of the

LGBT flag LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

. The use of the symbol in the tweet met with an initial negative reaction from the

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

on Twitter. However, it would later end up using it for the creation of

memes A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ...

, and finally as a symbol of the community in a phenomenon of

. The icon would end up being known as ''Gaysper'', in a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the word ''gay'' and

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...

; and subsequently spread in press and television. It was shared by popular figures of the Spanish media scene such as Mikel Iturriaga and

Brays Efe Brays Fernández Vidal (born 30 September 1988), best known by the stage name Brays Efe, is a Spanish actor and television personality. He became popular for his role in the comedy web series ''Paquita Salas''. Biography Brays Fernández Vidal ...

, among others. According to an analysis of the social impact of Gaysper published in February 2021, the icon became the biggest topic of diffusion on the Internet in Spain on the day of its publication.

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

would respond to Vox's tweet by stating that its company had not authorized the party to use its copyrighted images. On May 1, 2019, a representation of the icon would appear on an episode of the television program ''

Late Motiv ''Late Motiv'' (also known as ''Late Motiv de Andreu Buenafuente'') is a Spanish late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorou ...

'', in which he was "interviewed" by

Andreu Buenafuente Andreu Buenafuente Moreno (born 24 January 1965) is a Spanish Late night television, late night show host and founder of the group El Terrat. He has worked in TV3 (Catalonia), TV3, Antena 3 (Spain), Antena 3, laSexta and Cero (TV channel), #0. ...

. His voice was represented by the deputy director of the program, Bob Pop. Gayspers on a t-shirt

On May 21, 2019,

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

deputies Felipe Sicilia and Arnau Ramírez would attend a parliamentary session in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

wearing a T-shirt bearing the icon. Different merchandising items of the icon would become popular in the following months, on the occasion of the celebration of the International LGBT Pride Day. Likewise, versions derived from the symbol would become popular with other flags belonging to the community, such as the

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

or the

bisexual flag The bisexual flag, also called the bisexual pride flag, is a pride flag representing bisexuality, bisexual individuals and the bisexual community. According to Michael Page, the activist who created the flag based on a color palette designed ...

References

External links

* {{LGBTQ 2019 in Spain Internet memes introduced in 2019 LGBTQ culture LGBTQ in Spain LGBTQ symbols Vox (political party) Fictional ghosts Internet characters introduced in 2019

Origin and popularization

See also

References

External links