TikTokers Came to D.C. to Lobby Congress. It Got Kinda Weird.

In the Capitol rotunda—a dome in the middle of the building that houses statues, eclectic decorations, and a storied history—the 19-year-old TikTok creator Aidan Kohn-Murphy shouted “twink.”

It was an apparent attempt at humor, or satire or something in between. He wrote in a caption, “Becoming the first person to say twink in the Capitol rotunda.” The word is slang, often utilized within the LGBTQ+ community, to reference some gay men. (Kohn-Murphy, who founded the progressive group Gen Z For Change, later told The Daily Beast it was just “a silly video” he made in the moment.)

Kohn-Murphy and a gaggle of TikTok creators came to D.C. this week to lobby Congress against a proposed ban on the app. TikTok paid for the travel expenses of creators that participated in this week’s activism, who used “#keeptiktok” and #savetiktok hashtags to raise awareness for their cause.

Read more at The Daily Beast.