The Dean Browning 'Gay Black Guy' Twitter Fiasco Explained

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Okay, I’m going to try my best to explain one of the more dramatic moments on Twitter is recent days. Yeah we know, there is a lot going on, but please bear with us. Dean Browning, the former Leigh County Commissioner, who was 2,500 votes away from being the GOP nominee for the 7th Congressional district in Pennsylvania, sent Twitter into a tailspin when we tweeted out, from his personal account, that he is a “gay black man.”

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And well people were quick to notice that Dean was neither of these things. Black surely not, gay, well who are we to say. So people immediately thought Dean forgot to sign into his burner account and instead sent a bait tweet through his main feed. Which begs the question, does Dean Browning pretend to be a gay black man on Twitter? Well, the cards were beginning to stack up against him.

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People were going through his old tweets, looking for accounts that interacted with him more than normal and they found Dan Purdy. The mega-fan who Browning later claimed private messaged him the tweet he sent out through his main account. Well, people didn’t believe it, until Dan Purdy posted a video of himself to claim that no he wasn’t some spook or pawn, that yes he Dan Purdy is a real person.

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This is a screenshot from the now-deleted video of "Dan Purdy" sticking up for Dean Browning. The only problem is, this isn't Dan Purdy, this is William Holte, who goes by Byl. And he's Patti Labelle's son/nephew. Yeah really, that Pattie Labelle.

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It took Twitter all of 10 seconds to find the man's real identity.

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Using facial recognition apps, people found "Dan Purdy" on Facebook, only his name was Byl Holte. You'll notice the avatar from the Dan Purdy Twitter account is the same avatar found on Byl Holte's Facebook page. So at this point, people didn't know what to think.

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At first, there was caution, and there still is to not, incorrectly identify someone in the public as someone they are not. Many people can and do look-a-like. But when you compare pictures of Byl's home and the video of Dan Purdy, they begin to look the same. You can see the same painting in both. So it's safe to say Dan Purdy is Byl Holte, Pattie Labelle's son/nephew.

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Shortly after Dan Purdy uploaded the video his account was suspended. This could do to people flagging it, though it is unclear why it was taken down. Which is strange because, I also went looking for Byl's real Twitter, which I found was created in 2018 and had a total of two tweets, was . . .

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Moments later suspended as well. Go figure.

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