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This Gay Couple Is Trolling Jeb Bush To Fight For LGBT Rights

Here's why they hijacked the 'Jeb Bush for President' domain.

A couple of self-identified gay "tech bears" bought the domain jebbushforpresident.com back in 2008. Now that Jeb Bush -- who has openly declared his opposition to marriage equality -- is actually running for president, the couple is using the site as a platform to discuss LGBT equality and rights for LGBT families.

"Let's have a Chat, Share Viewpoints, and Learn from Each Other," the homepage reads. "So many times we find ourselves in situations where we can't relate to each other, don't understand each other, or feel like there's nobody who wants to listen to our point of view. Let's change that."

The domain is owned by CJ Phillips and Charlie Rainwater, who live Oregon. On their own website, they write, "We're a couple of high-tech bears who both work in the microprocessor-design industry, yes you could say we're just a couple of nerds."

"Being part of the tech community, we thought it would be sort of fun to use the internet to put a message out there about equality and what real life gay couples face," Phillips said in a Youtube video produced by Kenneth Cole. "So when the opportunity presented itself, we got the website jebbushforpresident.com."

In an interview with Gawker, the couple explained the best reaction they've ever gotten from the site.

"We received an email from a grandmother who had stumbled onto the site who’d never met an openly gay couple," they said. "She was surprised at how normal we seemed! That’s exactly our goal for this site..."

"Of course Jeb Bush doesn't have a very good record on gay rights," Rainwater said in the YouTube video. "We are not a site that bashes anybody. We're not bashing Jeb Bush. But we're wanting to really educate people and let them know that we're humans, we have lives, and we want the same rights as everybody else."

In case you're still wondering what a "bear" is, CJ and Charlie have a lovely explanation up on the "About" section of JebBushforPresident.com

"Many years ago, there was a movement born from a simple desire to be part of a community," they explain. "Many gay men felt that they didn't fit in with the stereotypes of that time because they weren't the pretty gym bodies with Farrah Fawcett hair and smooth faces. Hence the birth of the bear movement. Everyone was welcome! Big guys, little guys, hairy guys, smooth guys, buff dudes, chubby dudes, young men, old men... and those that admired them!"

"Almost everyone on this planet wants to feel like they are part of a community. We need acceptance in our lives. We need to know that we're not alone on this planet full of people."

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