When it was announced that this year’s theme for the annual Met Gala would be “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” some were excited to see what red carpet attendees would come up with, while others were upset that the event would be using religious imagery as a theme.
As it turns out, actress and producer Lena Waithe was able to please both groups. The out screenwriter for shows like Master of None and The Chi showed up to the yearly event wearing a simple suit, along with a long, flowing rainbow flag cape. A direct political statement about the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality, along with an homage to the “superhero” metaphor the actress used in her Emmy acceptance speech earlier this year, the cape made a big splash on the red carpet.
Understandably, Waithe’s outfit dominated the conversation on Gay Twitter™ Monday night (May 7). Here are a few of Billboard Pride’s favorite reactions to Lena Waithe’s red carpet look for the 2018 Met Gala:
lena waithe: actually god is gay
met gala: elaborate on that
lena waithe: no pic.twitter.com/5LWCbOpsvG— hawaiian shirt wan (@lgbtkenobi) May 7, 2018
#metgala: the theme is religion
Lena Waithe: ok hold my rainbow flag pic.twitter.com/6nkPKlsUsK— Call Me By My @ (@NotAgainBen) May 7, 2018
Rihanna killed me and then Lena Waithe’s cape revived me and killed me again #metgala2018 pic.twitter.com/yWJYzkaAOw
— Maeve McDermott (@maeve_mcdermott) May 7, 2018
Every homophobic catholic has been found dead Lena Waithe did not come to play tonight #MetGala pic.twitter.com/HqzGOd4LDE
— p (@bIondhampton) May 7, 2018
Lena Waithe as queer priestess. This is the PERFECT response to “hey let’s theme an evening around Catholicism”. PERFECT. pic.twitter.com/Pvwjxf0C6F
— Jared Pechacek (@vandroidhelsing) May 7, 2018
Met Gala: “The theme is ‘Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.'”@LenaWaithe: pic.twitter.com/S5kEok6ujk
— Rhea Butcher —— (@RheaButcher) May 7, 2018
Lena Waithe face is saying you got a problem? Shook!! #MetGala pic.twitter.com/wCDrl0YjkA
— xoNecole (@xonecole) May 8, 2018
LENA WAITHE SAID YA’LL GON SEE OUR GAY ASSES IN HEAVEN pic.twitter.com/NzOYXAFV1l
— Derrick “Love in a Time of Wakanda” Austin (@ParadiseLAust) May 7, 2018
lena waithe wearing a LGBT pride flag to a catholic themed event is the literal embodiment of this meme pic.twitter.com/tZN7TbtEVx
— gabi ? (@harleivy) May 7, 2018