A teacher in the US is going viral after his display of LGBTQ pride in a photo-op with President Donald Trump.
Nikos Giannopoulos visited the Oval Office in April after being named Rhode Island's Teacher of the Year. And in his photo with the President to celebrate his achievement, theteacher is wearing a rainbow pin on his suit jacket and he is casually waving a lacy black fan alongside Trump, who is smiling and seated at his desk, and a standing first lady.
Mr Giannopoulos posted the photo to his Facebook page yesterday and it has already been shared thousands of times on social media, said news.com.au.
The caption for the photo included three rainbow emojis and said "Rhode Island Teacher of the Year 2017 meets the 45th President of the United States. That's all."
Rhode Island Teacher of the Year 2017 meets the 45th President of the United States. That's all. ๐๐๐
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
In a previous post, Mr Giannopoulos said he wore the pin "to represent my gratitude for the LGBTQ community" and brought the fan "to celebrate the joy and freedom of gender nonconformity".
"Taking pride in queer identity means rejecting the shame imposed upon us by a harsh society," he wrote.
"It means opening yourself up to a lifetime of criticism and misunderstanding, but knowing that it's worth it to be able to live authentically."
Mr Giannopoulos is a special-education teacher at the Beacon Charter High School for the Arts in Woonsocket, according to the Rhode Island Department of Education.
