(#13) … In a Heartbeat

This week’s lesson on storytelling prompted me to look at my Archive in a new light. As someone who feels deeply connected to stories, and the way we use them to see the world and ourselves, I’m surprised I hadn’t seen this parallel before. But throughout my Archive, I feel like I’ve been telling a story. From Shane and Bridegroom and it’s catalytic impact on my life, to my trio of fave gays (Tyler, Raymond, Kyle), through to my first experience at Pride, important voices in the Trans Community, and then a look at the conversation about gender and mental health with Hannah, Miley, and Connor– my Archive told a story of the millennial generation and our contribution to not only activism, but creative ways of being visible in our communities!

from Kickstarter

To put a bow on this project, the timing of this could not be more perfect. I have been waiting for the release of this short film, In A Heartbeat.  This film is the work of two students at the Ringling College of Art and Design.

 

I won’t give you anymore about the film because it’s worth 5 minutes of your day.  I chose to include it as the “close” to my story if you will, the end to my project, because it is a beautiful work of creativity, by millennials, with a message of love about young same-sex persons which promotes representation and visibility for young queer people.

No more from me… here ya go:

(#12) Coming out, Creative Expression, and Connor Franta


Who:
Connor Franta
(Tweet: @ConnorFranta / IG: @ConnorFranta)

I really wanted to use alliteration in the title of this post… otherwise it’s alternate title would be “The Power of the Introvert.”  I have friends who would laugh or give me an “I told you so!” at the 180 I’ve done with my impression of and thoughts on Connor Franta. Ultimately – he’s smart, creative, talented, and likeable.  Connor started out first and foremost as many others I have highlighted in this Archive – as a YouTuber, an online content creator. But like those many others, he found a voice that resonated with the masses (5.6 million subscribers!) and ran with it. He creates fashion, produces music, has written two books, and has an unreal online following. While so much of that “following” was already LGBTQ+ youth, Connor cemented his part in that community when he came out as gay online in 2014 on his YouTube channel.

@connorfranta

Significance: First, I’ll talk about one of those books I mentioned before. The embedded video in this post (WATCH IT!!)  is actually a trailer for Connor’s second and POWERFUL book, Note to Self. I absorbed this book in just hours – it’s a compilation of Connor’s photography, poetry, and essays about who he is, coming out, his struggle with anxiety and depression and heartache and just REAL 20-something-year-old things. The vulnerability with which Connor addresses mental health and his sexuality and relationships is important and powerful in a time where young people are seeking connection and place where someone sees and understand them and the things they are going through. While many of the other people represented here on my Archive are much more active in there pursuit of social or political goals, Connor’s quiet smile and friendliness creates a human being that has the ability to reach millions (A Queer Voice for the Digital Generation?) His introverted nature (and openness about being such) has connected with people and allowed a conversation about what it means to be quiet but still have something to say.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRUBH20Blll/?hl=en

(#11) The Non-Labeled and Non-Binary

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVQHOCrB6H7/?hl=en


Who:
Miley Cyrus
(Tweet: @MileyCyrus / IG: @MileyCyrus)

Note: I’m going to do my very best to stay true to gender neutral pronouns in this post.  🙂

Miley needs very little introduction. From Hannah Montana to tongue-out, controversial pictures and performances, Cyrus has definitely broken all the rules about who a “girl” can be. Miley started as a child star and singer born from Disney and offered to the masses as an innocent picture of femininity and Southern charm.  Yet, underneath all the glitter is a passionate force to be reckoned with. Full of talent, a powerful voice is there — speaking up and speaking out for those who aren’t as blessed with the platform.

“It’s weird that I’m a girl, because I just don’t feel like a girl, and I don’t feel like a boy. I just feel like nothing.”

Significance: The reach of Miley’s influence is hard to fathom. From TeenVogue to Billboard and even Time, Cyrus has spoken honestly and with vulnerability about what it means to grow up and discover yourself. Identity, sexuality, relationships. In an ever evolving landscape of understanding, and a world where people feel misunderstood and alone — Miley is a beacon of light painting the world in rainbow colors. The eternal advocate for the LGTBQ+ community, Miley Cyrus is my millennial advocate for gender-nonconforming, non-binary persons.

(#10) Hannah Hart and gender


Who: Hannah Hart
(Tweet: @Harto / IG: @Harto)

To summarize Hannah Hart is quite the task because she’s just so BUSY. She’s an internet personality and online content creator, comedian and actress, NYT Bestselling author, and most recently, the host of Food Network’s new show, I Hart Food.  With 2.5 million subscribers, Hannah’s YouTube channel grew popularity because of her relatable cooking videos (titled, “My Drunk Kitchen“) but she quickly expanded her repertoire to include collaborations, open and honest conversations about mental health, and fun challenges with friends.

Significance: If for nothing else than representation, Hannah’s presence and impact within the LGBTQ+ community and beyond is important. Hannah is a lesbian, and also frequently jumps back and forth between the feminine and masculine stereotypical presentations of gender. In the video embedded above, Hannah answers questions and talks frankly about gender, her understandings, and what the labels mean to her.  She talks about, again, the representations of gender and being mis-gendered. Gender Theorist, Judith Butler,  actually calls this idea of gender presentations – performative. I think Hannah’s non-conformative gender presentation aligns well with Butler’s ideas about gender. (To hear Judith Butler talk about performance gender, click here.)

“I  hope that as my career continues I get to create and work on more LGBT projects and bring LGBT storytelling into more mainstream media!” (Indiewire.com)

Hannah’s appeal has translated to the “mainstream” media as well.  Her second book, Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded, gave the world a look at a complicated woman with a valuable story.

“In her debut memoir [Hart]…delves deep into her past, sharing her experiences with family, mental illness, sexuality, friendship, and love. Although she is currently living the life of a public figure, a fact that she teasingly points out throughout the piece, Hart focuses on her past; its complexities, juxtapositions, and contradictions make up the bulk of her entertaining and honest story. Hart exposes the hardest parts of her life: being gay with a Jehovah’s Witness father, growing up poor with a schizophrenic mother. These and other figures of her life could be easily demonized, but Hart allows them to emerge as complicated characters.” (Source)

Hannah’s “reckless optimism” has also encouraged her fans and followers towards a movement of friendship across the country and the world! Every year, captains all over the world organize events with a purpose :  “HAVE A HART DAY– an initiative to organize & mobilize Hartosexuals & friendly humans to spread service and reckless optimism all over the world!” (Visit the FB page!)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzqvj5hiC_/

 

(#9) TransActivism: Aydian Dowling

from @ALionsFear on IG, March, 2017

Who: Aydian Dowling
(Tweet: @AydianDoyling / IG: @ALionsFear)

Aydian gained visibility and a following in 2015 when he became a fan favorite to win Men’s Health Magazine’s “Ultimate Health Guy” contest. Even though Aydian didn’t win the contest, he won a spot on the cover, becoming one of the first transgender men to do so. Dubbed “The Pioneer,” Aydian’s popularity thrust him into the spotlight and granted him the opportunity to promote visibility for the trans-community and converse with other activists through mediums like YouTube. He  attended VidCon this year and met other content creators like Tyler Oakley and was part of a panel about Gender Identity.

Significance: “Aydian got us thinking about what it means to be a man in 2015,” Men’s Health Editor-in-Chief Bill Phillips says. “He’s become a leading voice of the transgender community and we feel privileged to share his story and to count him as a member of the Men’s Health family” (Out.com)

Sharing his story is just what Aydian has done. From every part of his social media platform, Aydian has chosen to be vulnerable and honest about a deeply personal journey – transitioning. He has talked openly about being on testosterone and his surgeries, his health and fitness plans, his long-term relationship with his now wife, and so much more.

Often times the barriers between hetero-normative society and  LGBTQ persons or anyone deemed as “the other” is simply the fact that humans shun or shy away from what they do not understand. What is crucial about Aydian’s “brand” of activism and advocacy is that he has created a place where people can learn and feel safe. All the while, he continues to use this platform to raise money for causes that benefit the community.

Men’s Health, Nov, 2015

 

(#8) TransActivism: Laverne Cox

The Guardian, 2015

Who: Laverne Cox
(Tweet: @LaverneCox / IG: @LaverneCox)
Buzzfeed called her the “Woman we’ve been waiting for” and Glamour, Time, Out, and HuffingtonPost have all honored her as an influential and intersectional voice for the trans community. Best known for her role on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, Laverne Cox has become a powerful icon for LGBTQ+ visibility with her confidence, talent, and unwavering advocacy.

Significance: I wanted to start with a quote from Laverne herself, because it is so much more eloquent than I could ever write on her behalf. Her mark on the activism of the millennial generation is smart and direct: we need diversity of representation. On TransVisibility Day (3/31) this year, Laverne posted this to her Instagram:

“As an out, visible, black, transgender woman everyday is #TransDayOfVisibility for me. My blackness, transness and womanhood are political, social and historic realities. But my spirit, my soul, my humanity transcend these identity categories. As an artist I have always yearned for transcendence. Today I continue to do the spiritual work towards that transcendence. But the political, social and historic realities of the multiple identities I inhabit, continue to affect how I and people like me move through the world and access space and resources. In this context it becomes necessary, vital to celebrate ourselves and these socially constructed yet personally, politically and historically relevant identities we inhabit. Trans people are under attack perhaps now more than ever as we enjoy more visibility than we have ever known. So on this #transdayofvisibility #tdov2017 we celebrate trans folks, those who are visible, by circumstance and by choice. We celebrate and are visible for those who can not be. As we celebrate visibility we also acknowledge the limits of visibility. We acknowledge that trans folks experience violence disproportionately, that the past 3 years there have been more murders of trans folks than since we have been tracking trans homicides. We acknowledge that trans students are under attack in the United States. We #StandwithGavin Grimm and trans students like him across this nation fighting for dignity and equal access. We acknowledge that bills like HB2 and the bill masquerading as a repeal of that bill but is only more discrimination, are about erasing trans people from public life. We acknowledge that when we are excluded from being counted in census data this is another attempt to erase us. We acknowledge that when trans folks are misgendered and disavowed this is yet another attempt to stigmatize and erase us. We acknowledge that folks at the intersections of multiple identities being targeted must be lifted up. On this Trans Day of Visibility we reassert that we will not and cannot be erased.”

“My blackness, transness and womanhood are political, social and historic realities.”

For Pride last month, Laverne took part in LogoTV’s LGBTQ History Project.  See a clip below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV-3oJ6AOr5/?hl=en

One of the most compelling parts of Laverne, is her unwavering commitment to embracing and remembering the different aspects of her identity. I love that she highlights the importance of intersectionality when talking about her feminism and her activism.

When researching the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the queer women at its inception, I found a similar sentiment at its core, “Perhaps if we were the charismatic Black men many are rallying around these days, it would have been a different story, but being Black queer women in this society (and apparently within these movements) tends to equal invisibility and non-relevancy” (BLM, Herstory.) Interestingly, Laverne Cox frequently speaks about invisibility in her community.

“We will not and cannot be erased.”

(#7) TransActivism: The Next Wave of Advocates

What:  I’m starting off this next series of posts about our transgender friends with an article featured in the Human Rights Campaign’s publication, Equality Magazine. In the Spring of 2017, HRC featured on the cover the “Next Wave of Transgender Advocates.” The article highlights Gavin Grimm and his challenge to Virginia school board’s bathroom policies, Avery Jackson as the first transgender girl to appear on the cover of National Geographic, Jazz Jennings, Brendan Jordan and more!

HRC, Equality Magazine, Spring 2017 (Cover)
HRC Equality Magazine, Spring 2017 (p 1 and 2 of article)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HRC, Equality Magazine, Spring 2017 (pg. 3 of article)

 

Significance:   In the LGBTQ+ community, the “T” identifying have had a particularly rough time. This year already, 14 transgender women of color have been killed in the US. In the first month of his presidency, Mr. Trump rolled back protections for transgender students.  And just this week, the Pentagon pushed back the directive to accept transgender troops into the ranks of the US Armed Forces.  The importance of young voices in the world is never more important. When Gavin Grimm wanted to go the restroom that matched the gender he identified with, it went to the courts and captured national attention. When Nat Geo put Avery Jackson on their cover, she became the face of a movement, at 9 years old.

Visibility and representation are everything.

One of my favorite transgender activists is the lovable, adorable, and outgoing, Jazz Jennings. Through her YouTube channel, and television show, she and her family have used her journey to show the world that transgender people are WONDERFUL!
Jazz Jennings – Tweet @JazzJennings_ / IG: @JazzJennings_

(#6) Chicago Pride, 2017

Before I head into my next series of posts, I wanted to take a second and post about my experience at my very first Pride Celebration this past weekend. Since I am a millennial, a proclaimed activist, and someone who doesn’t subscribe to the binary system of gender and sexuality, I thought it might be interesting to lend my voice and my perspective to my own archive.

To start, I haven’t been to Pride (or many other parades or events like it) before because I’m not a fan of large crowds or that much social interaction. But this year was important. My sister is a performer, she raps and sings, and was asked to perform at Chicago’s biggest women’s event, Backlot Bash. Needless to say, I had to go.

The picture below is my sister on stage performing. Her stage-name is ToriWhodat.

(Tweet: @ToriWhodat ; IG @ToriWhodat ; Her music! ; more about her journey… here!)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV0zdzSl7jr/

Beyond the actual event I was there to attend and my sister to perform at – the overall feeling of Pride was imbued and overwhelmed with a sense of community. I have never felt so welcomed and so free in an environment. Contributing to this was the GORGEOUS day that Chicago gave us… My sister and I took advantage of this multiple times for some impromptu photoshoots. (I don’t mind if you take a creep on our social media pages, especially given I am linking them in this post.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV0dzmzgOwS/

I couldn’t help but think back to that first expression of “Pride” and the marches that came after Stonewall. While the free expression of love and happiness and acceptance we see in the US is something so many fought for (and still do),  I am so grateful for those that paved the way with activism. In 1970, the world was so different. “There were no floats, no music blasting through the streets, no scantily clad dancers: this was a political statement and a test—what would happen when LGBT citizens became more visible? While crowd estimates vary widely from 1,000 to 20,000, one thing remained clear—there had never been a demonstration like this before” (History.com)

As I continue to chronicle the voices of the Millennial generation who are participating in activism today, I am cognisant of those that came before. As I watch the relative freedom with which we march, and sing, and love, and fight, and speak, I know that this is not always the case around the world and in the not so distant past.

(#5) Social Influencers: Kyle Krieger

Who: Kyle Krieger
(Tweet: @KyleKriegerHair  /  IG:  @KyleKriegerHair )
The first thing you’ll notice when you watch this video, in the first 15 seconds, is the appearance of 2 people who I have spotlighted here in my archive previously, Tyler Oakley and Raymond Braun. Tyler is an important part of telling Kyle’s story.

Kyle starting making YouTube videos, mostly because Tyler Oakley encouraged him to do so. I’ve noticed that friendships and community seem to be an important part of encouraging others to became ACTIVE and also helping people do things they never thought they could do! Since starting his YouTube page, Kyle has amassed a large online following. This is in part due to his charming and endearing nature, his positive outlook, his willingness to be vulnerable with his “audience”… oh and maybe his beautifully stunning Instagram page/photography! But what may have started as talking to his camera about workout tips and health guides, quickly showcased Kyle’s passion for queer activism, deeply personal stories about mental health and his addictions (check out his TedTalk here!), and his increased awareness of intersectional experiences within the LGBTQ community.

For additional context, the “Vlog” (video blog) embedded in this post features Kyle and other YouTubers and “influencers” visiting the White House during President Obama’s second term. Obama did this frequently as a way to hear from young content creators about how they use these mediums as a positive influence on their generations. Tyler Oakley and other creators have partnered with the White House, Michelle Obama, and others on initiatives regarding Healthcare and more.

Significance: Kyle’s story is one of resilience and strength. And a battle with the idea of what a man should look like, talk like, act like, and be. On the outside, Kyle is the picture of stereotypical male beauty, but Kyle has struggled with personal demons and insecurities about his queerness and his sexuality that are tremendously common for the millennial generation. By putting his voice online through dialogues with his therapist friend Omar in videos like “Summertime Sadness” or tackling controversial topics about race in “Is there racism in the gay community?” or even the funny but so real, “Bro, you’re so masc” – Kyle has transformed himself into activist in front of an online audience of 164,000 Subscribers.

via @KyleKriegerHair on Instagram, April 2016

In the last video referenced (“Bro, you’re so masc“), regarding masculinity and femininity, Kyle and Raymond Braun tackle the topic of their public and private representations of themselves, and specifically how tough the gay community is on each other. They talk about a picture that Kyle took of himself and struggled with posting (see inset.) This topic is particularly important in a social media driven time, when we are constantly battling the image (and perhaps even identity) we present to the “world” and a true or more private one.

(#4) Social Influencers: Raymond Braun and #ProudtoBe


Who: Raymond Braun; YouTube’s #ProudtoBe and #ProudtoLove series
(Tweet: @RaymondBraun / IG: @RaymondBraun)
I have to start by saying that Raymond Braun is one of my favorite humans on the internet. I say on the internet, because I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him IRL (that’s “in real life” for those less hip on the slang.) Watch the video above for a quick intro to who Raymond is and the amazing work he has dedicated his life to.

Significance: Raymond is a gay millennial who has made significant impact as an activist for the LGBTQ community. While working for YouTube, he helped collaborate with other creators for a powerful series of videos called #ProudtoLove, celebrating coming out stories, openness and acceptance and the joy of loving. (The hashtags above are linked to those videos.) In addition to his fun and creative online content, Raymond is politically active and outspoken. He and fellow YouTuber, Tyler Oakley (see previous post!) are good friends and have participated in campaigning for Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton (Click here for Raymond’s vlog on the road of the Clinton Campaign!)They have also worked on projects together for organizations like The Trevor Project and The Human Rights Campaign.

Click the photo to read Entrepreneur’s article!