YouTuber buys US town and renames it 'Gay Hell' in protest at Trump's LGBT+ policy

A YouTuber and musician has bought the town Hell, in Michigan, and renamed it to Gay Hell in order to protest against Trump's policy disallowing pride flags to fly at US embassies.

Eljah Daniel, a 24-year-old popular YouTuber known for his crude humour, shared the fact that he'd bought the town of Hell, Michigan, on Monday on his Twitter account.

In a tweet, he wrote:

Ahead of pride month Trump’s administration put a ban on embassy’s flying pride flags. so as of today, I am now the owner of Hell, Michigan.

I bought the whole town. And my first act as owner, I have renamed my town to Gay Hell, MI. The only flags allowed to fly are pride.

The musician, who goes by the name 'Lil Phang', refused to say exactly how much buying the town, which has 70 residents, cost. However, the five-acre commercial property was on the market in 2016 for $900,000, reports the New York Post. The 'only pride flags' rule is only a joke that won't be enforced, he said.

Speaking to NBC News about the purchase, he said:

I have a young audience who is 16 to 24 who would not be involved in politics if it wasn’t in a funny or meme way.

I’m just trying to have fun and get my audience politically active.

This isn't the first time that the vlogger visited the town of Hell to make a statement for the LGBT+ community. In 2017, he became the mayor of Hell, and immediately banned heterosexuality, reports Mashable.

At the time, he took to Twitter and wrote:

I love straights, but my #1 priority is the safety of my town.

Until the heterosexual threat has been reviewed we cannot allow them to enter.

Daniel, a YouTuber with more than 500,000 subscribers, said that he also hopes that his renaming of the town will spur people on to visit Michigan.

Speaking to Mashableabout his purchase, Daniel said that the town's previous owner, John Colone, from whom he bought the town, was:

One of the sweetest people alive.

He added that Colone is:

Very LGBT-friendly, and that, in rural Michigan, is very hard to find.

Colone owns several businesses within the town, including the souvenir shop, the chapel and the mini-golf course, reports the New York Post.

Daniel, who is engaged to fellow YouTuber Sam F, also shared that the town has a wedding chapel 'to get gay married in!'

In a tweet, he wrote:

Gay Hell, Mi has everything. A library, a place to lock your love in Gay Hell, and even a WEDDING CHAPEL TO GET GAY MARRIED IN HELL!

Speaking to Mashable about his project, Daniel said he had one specific aim with his Pride Month stunt:

F*** s**t up, have fun.

Go, Elijah!

HT Mashable

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