Santorum

Santorum, written in lowercase, is a slang term created in 2003 by sex-advice columnist and LGBTQ+ activist Dan Savage. It responded to then-Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who had compared same-sex relationships to bestiality. Savage held a contest in his Savage Love column inviting readers to attach a new meaning to the senator's surname. The winning entry defined it as a crude byproduct of anal sex, and the definition spread widely online, at times topping search results for the senator's name. The campaign became a well-known example of LGBTQ+ communities using humor, satire, and internet culture as tools of political pushback against public figures hostile to gay rights.