![the frogs are gay the frogs are gay](https://i.etsystatic.com/28186490/r/il/f24cd7/3207586577/il_fullxfull.3207586577_igrx.jpg)
When fans first uploaded the image to online message boards in 2009, Furie didn’t object, and when Pepe became a hugely popular meme with his catchphrase “feels good, man,” he didn’t assert copyright. Illustrator Matt Furie originally introduced his bug-eyed, anthropomorphic frog in 2005 as the innocent protagonist of the stoner comic Boys Club. Pepe, who is probably still the best-known internet frog specimen, underwent his own dramatic transformation around 2015. On the internet, they’re not even just frogs. As symbols of transformation, frogs are never just one thing. Maybe that’s what makes them such enduring subjects in human culture, from ancient Egyptian fertility gods to latent fairytale princes. For these amphibians, identity is a slippery thing. But in their most recent online habitat, TikTok, frogs have transcended Pepe’s toxic connotations, emerging with cheerful, queer associations instead.
![the frogs are gay the frogs are gay](https://i.etsystatic.com/24735096/r/il/144cb0/3044786480/il_1588xN.3044786480_76a3.jpg)
Most infamously, the bright green cartoon Pepe the frog spread like a digital plague as a symbol of the far right.
![the frogs are gay the frogs are gay](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7QrgbjRxnqE/maxresdefault.jpg)
Memes from Kermit the frog sipping tea to the pixelated, unicycle-riding frog “Dat Boi” have proliferated on Reddit, Tumblr, and Twitter. Though endangered in real life, frogs might be the internet’s most invasive species.