Elijah Daniel/TwitterA YouTuber has bought a town called Hell, renamed it Gay Hell, and said the only flags allowed to fly in the town are pride flags.
25-year-old Elijah Daniel said he bought the town as an act of rebellion against the Trump administration, which recently denied requests from US embassies to fly the flag during pride month.
It’s not the first time the 25-year-old has mocked president Trump, in 2016 he wrote and published a short erotic novella called Trump Temptation: The Billionaire & The Bellboy.
While in 2017, Daniel became mayor of Hell for two weeks and outlawed heterosexuality, though he was swiftly impeached and removed from office.
Fortunately, the experience didn’t put him off, and two years later he has returned to buy the whole town.
Taking to social media to announce his purchase of the town, Daniel 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. [sic]
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. pic.twitter.com/AKOcZm2Jvm
— elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) June 17, 2019
The YouTuber told Sky News he thought the town’s name ‘literally was perfect’, saying: ‘When I found out it was for sale, I was like oh shit, I’ve gotta buy this now.’
However, it wasn’t just the name of the town that attracted Elijah to the place.
When asked if he had any personal connection to Hell, the 25-year-old told UNILAD:
Yeah multiple, I grew up very close to it, and also grew up gay getting told I was gonna go there, was pretty confusing. Seemed like a nice place. [sic]
Daniel, who is from Michigan, explained his upbringing to CNN. He grew up in a ‘very religious’ area, and was told gay people went to hell. So when the opportunity came to purchase the town, he knew he could use it to spread a positive, though very tongue-in-cheek, message.
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! pic.twitter.com/mt2RzgraEx
— elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) June 17, 2019
And while the idea of buying an actual town might seem daunting for most people, it turns out it was ‘a lot easier’ than you would think – in fact a quick internet search of ‘towns for sale’ seems to attest to this, if you have the cash of course…
Elijah says the reaction to his Gay Hell announcement has been mixed, telling UNILAD:
Lots and lots of guys who look like King Of The Hill characters seem to be upset, but everyone rational seems to realize it’s just all in good fun.
Meanwhile, his short time as mayor of the town in 2017 has obviously sparked something in him, as the YouTuber jokingly says he plans to run ‘for office of The Anti-Christ, or any other office that will piss everyone off for no reason’.
Though it may sound like a funny prank for pride month, Daniel is in the process of finalising his purchase of Hell, and has ‘lots of big plans’ for the town, which will stretch far beyond this month.
As the humourous stunt turns into a political statement, Daniel – who has a large following on social media – says the purchase of the town is: ‘Getting my audience involved in politics by doing it in a funny way.’
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.