Colombian Government Apologizes After Official Ministry Twitter Account Hopes Luigi Is Gay

The Twitter account of the Colombian Minister of Interior had to issue an apology on Wednesday, April 19, after the account tweeted that they wished that Luigi, a character from the Super Mario Bros. franchise, was gay. 

The MinInterior Colombia account, in response to a tweet that claimed that Mario from the Super Mario Bros. franchise was straight, tweeted “I hope that Luigi is gay,” with the term being used for gay in the tweet, “marica,” having a negative connotation that can roughly be translated to “sissy,” a negative term for feminine men. 

It is unclear if the original tweet was meant to be supportive of Luigi being gay or mocking Luigi for being an effeminate character. The tweet was immediately deleted by the MinInterior Colombia account, and an apology was issued by the account that reasserted the government’s continued support of LGBTQ+ rights while implicitly blaming a community manager for the tweet using a hashtag. The incident is believed to have been caused by someone who was unable to switch their profiles properly, but the government has yet to confirm this theory.

Sabemos que no fueron las palabras, pero somos conscientes de que la homofobia mata. Por eso estamos a favor de todas las iniciativas que visibilicen a la población LGBTIQ+ y trabajamos para que sus derechos se garanticen. #SalvaUnCM https://t.co/9pObXcShXK

— MinInterior Colombia (@MinInterior) April 19, 2023

While the characters of Mario and Luigi have always been iconic since the release of the first Super Mario Bros. game, the two have earned a new global prominence due to the release of their new hit movie The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where Chris Pratt voices Mario and Charlie Day voices Luigi. The movie has made over $900 million as of press time and will likely end up making more than a billion dollars worldwide once its theatrical run ends. Colombia, meanwhile, has some of the strongest laws protecting the rights of queer and LGBT people in South America, including the legalization of same-sex marriage, legal recognition of non-binary individuals, and laws protecting the LGBT community from hate crimes and harassment.