Tennessee does not get the greatest response in our queer circles when it is mentioned. And then when we learn that the state that is basically hunting down drag queens and limiting gender reaffirming care has one of its straight government leaders woo-ing a gay twink on Instagram for all to see, well it just baffles the mind.
Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally cannot stop liking and commenting on a 20-year-old gay male model’s Instagram posts.
On March 8, The Tennessee Holler posted its interview with Franklyn McClure where they talked about McNally and his interactions with the McClur’s Instagram page (@franklynsuperstar). Franklyn McClur, who also goes by Finn, grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and routinely posts provocative images of himself, often nude. He moved to North Carolina two years ago, after McNally had already started messaging him online.
LIVE: Franklyn Mcclur aka “Franklyn Superstar” (on Lt. Gov. McNally’s comments) https://t.co/azMPjTITMB
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) March 9, 2023
The 79-year-old McNally is not hiding from the story or his comments. “Finn, you can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine!” was one of McNally’s comments on a post of McClur’s backside in tight undies. In an attempt to do some damage control, his office stated the lieutenant governor loves social media and takes “great pains to view every post he can” and that “he has no intention of stopping.”
How does Great-Grandpa LT respond to all of this? In an interview with Nashville’s NewsChannel5 on Thursday, he stated, “I try to encourage people with posts and try to, you know, help them if I can,” McNally explained. “I was basically trying to encourage him.”
VIDEO: ‘I’m really, really sorry.’ Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally apologizes after uproar over social media posts (More in link below.) https://t.co/Ye6QV2a8hL pic.twitter.com/noIiwfbCOd
— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) March 10, 2023
Remember, Tennessee is a very red state and a lot less rainbow of recent. The state introduced 26 anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year with two of them already passing: one criminalizing drag performances and the second limits/ends gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. McNally did show support for the anti-drag bill. He also opposes gay marriage.
So his views are evolving because of social media? What happened to him personally to make this change occur? Maybe we will see what arises in the future.
What are your thoughts on McNally? After watching that interview, good lord, sweat does happen, but he was swimming in his own skin. Do we put him to the stake and set the man on fire for being a hypocrite? Or do we grab him by the hand and say thank you for stirring up the murky waters of Tennessee politics. Maybe this bump in the road in the backwards moving state is a good thing.
What About McClur?
Speaking of good things, is this all good for Franklyn “Finn” McClur? He has clearly gone viral.
I love being naked,” says Franklyn McClur, 20, Zooming from the porch of his home in Charlotte, North Carolina, and wearing nothing but a pink pair of briefs and a whole lot of jewelry and lip gloss. “So that’s why I didn’t want to wear a shirt for this interview. Because that shit is who I am. One day when I’m on the red carpet, I’m going to be naked, girl.” – TheCut.com
“God gave us one life, so make it iconic,” he says.
And all of these interactions with McNallly are truly not new news. McNally has been commenting on his page for almost three years. There have also been private messages “checking on my mental health, compliments, and random things about his life and what he’s going through.”
Could the interest have been started when their eyes met across a crowded theatre? McClur thinks McNally could have “learned” of him from McClur’s participation in musicals at an Oak Ridge playhouse that is within McNally’s district. We’ve all seen a hot actor in a play, looked at the playlist and thought about looking him up further on the socials. Maybe that is what Great-Grandpa did. McClur said the two first connected over Facebook, but have never met in person.
In a recent Zoom interview, McClur mentions that after seeing some of the bills, the drag bill mainly, which he knows is not really about drag, he worries that he might not be able to go home again. But for his current realm, he states he does not have a queer community and is just thankful someone is paying him any attention: “I’m so grateful to Randy. It’s like a stamp of approval, you know? Just to feel seen. Who doesn’t want to feel seen?”
Here’s more from his recent Zoom interview:
He was raised in Knoxville in a church-going Republican household that he says didn’t always support his sexuality. He came out in 2017 but then forced himself back into the closet. Last year, “God really revealed himself to me that he doesn’t give a damn, girl, if I’m gay or I’m not. People were taking advantage of me and really pushing the religion on me, and I finally broke out of that,” he says. “I’m so grateful to not be a Christian anymore. Because the stress of reading your Bible every day and that whole vibe? Now I can just memorize my Ariana Grande and my Doja Cat songs with the cuss words. I’m so happy. And I can post my butthole!”
So Franklyn, Finn, franklynsuperstar seems to be taking this all in stride. But there are some changes in his life because of this. Of course, he has a major increase in followers. And you may see the spellings of his last name as McClur and McClur out there and they’re both kinda right. Franklyn is dropping the “e” from his last name and has his eyes set on moving to Hollywood and “becoming the male Doja Cat.”
We wish you the best Franklyn. And of course, Randy McNally has received his own SNL spoof.
Source: TheCut.com
The person that screams the loudest has the most to hide. This should be the Republican them song
That cute gay little twink is actually pretty sexy in the pic w/ the hat. Sadly it’s not new that anti-gay politicians are secretly gay themselves. Maybe after this he’ll become a politician who fights for gay rights.