#TwoMenKissing – The Twitter hashtag that deserves to trend worldwide

Love is love. The city of Orlando, along with the rest of the world, is still coming to terms with the devastating tragedy that occurred over the weekend. 50 people lost their lives in the largest mass shooting in US history, as gunman Omar Mateen opened fire in popular Gay nightclub, Pulse, injuring a further 53. Before carrying out the attack, 29-year-old Omar, a native of Port St. Lucie, Florida, called 911 and pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Yesterday, his father, Mir Siddique, told NBC that the killings had nothing to do with Omar's religious beliefs and that he was not affiliated with extremist group ISIS - he believes the massacre was motivated by seeing two gay men kissing in Miami recently.

“This had nothing to do with religion.” https://t.co/05UBkhsbUZ

— Her.ie (@Herdotie) June 13, 2016

After reading this statement, Hollywood producer and illustrator Shadi Petosky felt compelled to share a collage of men kissing. 

Two men kissing. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XSzQry1x4Q — Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) June 12, 2016

The hashtag #TwoMenKissing was born. Twitter quickly followed in Shadi's footsteps, as users shared intimate snaps under the hashtag.

#TwoMenKissing#loveislove#Orlando#gaypride pic.twitter.com/U1KBcsYZKf — Adrian+Shane (@AdrianAndShane) June 12, 2016

My husband & I at wedding reception, 2008. If you don't like this, you're like a terrorist. Congrats. #twomenkissing pic.twitter.com/8TslauuyKG — Jon Collins (@jeezjon) June 13, 2016

Important today to share images of #TwoMenKissing so I dug this out from the vault: my wedding day pic.twitter.com/06RhAHfko6 — Walter Wittich (@WalterWittich) June 13, 2016

Oh look, two men kissing. GET USED TO IT!#twomenkissing pic.twitter.com/tN47wVtUh5 — Johan van Berkel (@JohanvanBerkel) June 12, 2016

#LoveIsLove #twomenkissing #OrlandoStrong pic.twitter.com/bu8CopiZB1 — Daniel MacKinnon (@mrdmack) June 13, 2016

The hashtag #TwoMenKissing, as well as #GaysBreakTheInternet, trended on Twitter, with people showing solidarity to the friends, family and loved in Orlando, and the LGBTQ community worldwide.  Petosky, a transgender woman who earned notoriety last year after taking to the social media platform following an incident with Transportation Security Administration - agents stopped her because of an "anomaly" in an X-ray scan image - lost followers as a result of uploading the original #TwoMenKissing tweet. 

I lost about 200 followers after posting photos of #twomenkissing. So now I'm just responding to egg avatars with that. — Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) June 12, 2016

The perfect response.

Lead image via Twitter/Adrian+Shane