36 Minutes With ...Franklyn Mcclure

He feels a little bad for the 79-year-old Tennessee GOP politician caught liking his photos, since he knows what it's like to be "hated on."

- By Brock Colyar

"I Love Being Naked," says Franklyn McClure, 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."

McClure is in the midst of having gone viral, and he is trying to make the most of it. "God gave us one life, so make it iconic," he says. If somehow you missed this: Randy McNally, the 79-year-old Republican lieutenant governor of Tennessee, was revealed to have been commenting, using his public, verified Instagram account, on McClure's thirst-traps (handle: @franklynsuperstar). McClure grew up in Tennessee but moved to North Carolina two years ago, after McNally had already started messaging him online.

This is all newsworthy given the lengths to which the Tennessee GOP has gone of late to score points in the culture wars. The state introduced 26 anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, the most in the country, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Two bills have already been passed into law: one criminalizing drag performances and another targeting gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. The drag bill, in particular, has attracted much attention in the past few weeks. While 14 states are considering such legislation, Tennessee is the first to make it the law. McNally supported the state's anti-drag bill, has opposed gay marriage, and voted to limit sports participation on the basis of sex assigned at birth. (In another hypocrisy sideshow, yearbook photos of Governor Bill Lee, in which he appears to be dressed as a cheerleader, have surfaced.)