Rural Oklahoma Man Decorates Truck in Support of Pride

An Oklahoma man is making a bold statement in his rural town.

Cody Barlow is straight, but he wanted to find some way to put his support for the LGBTQ community on display this June. When he finally settled on creating a rainbow flag on the back of his pickup truck with “Not all country boys are bigots” added above it, he took to Facebook to share the message with others.

“I live in a rural area in Oklahoma, surrounded by small towns in every direction, and I’m sure this is not a very welcome message around here, but this is going to be displayed on my truck for the entire month of June in support of pride month,” he wrote.

“This is important to me, not only because I have family and friends that are LGBTQ+, but also because countless people have dealt with hatred and judgement simply for who they are, and/or who they love, for far too long.”

In less than three days, his post has racked up over 66,000 shares and 15,000 comments.

Barlow said that he doesn’t care if he gets negative responses from his neighbors or other people who come across his truck, or even trolls on social media. He plans to keep the message of support up for the entire month no matter what happens.

“Obviously doing this isn’t going to change the minds of those who are intolerant, but hopefully it can help drown out the hatred with love,” he said.