It takes a special talent to accrue a mostly negative score on YouTube's user ratings system. Most bars stay mostly green because the people who search for a particular video are likely going to like what they see. And those who aren't fans of something usually won't go the extra mile to give it the official thumbs-down. It takes a special kind of hate to drive thousands and thousands of people to publicly display their dislike for something you've created. Only a few major players on the YouTube scene have warranted that distaste. Among them are Rebecca Black, Justin Bieber, and now, coming out on top, Rick Perry.

He's not even acquiring all this disgust for a foolishly produced video that just misses the mark he's trying to hit. People are rallying against him because he's come out--without pretense or subtlety--with a blazingly anti-gay campaign ad.

In the video, a ruggedly-clad Perry wonders what kind of America we live in where gays can serve openly in the military but we have to say "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas". He then goes on to say he'll end Obama's war on religion, bring back prayer in school, and assumedly make Christianity the official, mandated religion of the United States. He plays the faith card pretty heavily on this one. But it's the gays in the military comment that's gotten people riled up. Not only have the dislikes piled up by the thousands, I've seen many a campaign across varying social media channels asking everyone to report the video as hate speech. It's a strong response to an almost predictable comment--and it shows how the cultural attitude towards queer folk has changed across the internet. 

Now, you're more likely to face the fire for being homophobic than you are for being gay. Even a relatively subdued (and mostly laughable) attack on the progress made during Obama's term is now met with hefty scorn. It seems like most people on the internet can agree that repealing DADT was a good move that shouldn't be attacked by right-wing hopefuls. 

It's sort of funny that Perry pointed out the DADT appeal as an example of anti-Christian legislation rather than decrying the fact that gay people can now get married in a number of states. Seems like it's more about cutting down Obama's actions than it is about faith, doesn't it? There's nothing particularly un-Christian about letting gay people admit their sexuality while enlisted, last time I checked. 

Still, the very mention of "gays" (if you're using it as a noun, you're probably not meaning it in a nice way) as contrary to religion has now placed Perry above Rebecca Black on YouTube's most hated list. Good job, Rick. Too bad homophobia no longer has any positive political power.