- (gasps) Oh, it's Eugene
from the Try Guys.
- I just watched this the other day.
- I love Eugene.
I love him so much.
- Right off the bat,
everybody's way more conservative.
- Very dramatic opening
just at the very start.
- It's like a modern dance.
- This is something I feel
like we've all been waiting for,
his coming out.
- So artistic.
- I really like that he made it
into an art form.
- Seems to be pointing out
gender stereotypes, I think.
But what do I know
about gender stereotypes?
- It's just basically
the kids copying the parents.
That's pretty much
what it is right now.
♪ (dramatic instrumental music) ♪
- Oh my god.
This is so beautiful.
- I'm pretty sure that means
his dad was not supportive.
- He just felt more comfortable
being around his mom,
because he didn't feel manly.
- Wow. This is a really cool,
creative coming out video.
I've never seen anything
like this from anyone.
- Uh-oh.
They're at the church.
- Okay, so a church,
going against your religion.
- Ohh, so that's what
he's supposed to do.
- Oh, that's relatable
to all of us, I think.
- It's a metaphor for the oppression
that organized religion
has carried out against gay people
throughout history.
- But I just want to break free.
I just wanna be me.
♪ (soft instrumental music) ♪
- The choreography,
it's amazing for this video.
- Beautiful scenery.
- Go off! That's the one you want.
- Damn. I didn't know
that Eugene could do any of this.
And he's just like, "Look at me.
I can dance."
- We love when we see
proper choreography with two boys
symbolizing, I don't know, love.
- Oh, wow.
- She's the first person in the video
that's actually supporting him
rather than everybody else
just trying to push him.
- These-- oh, here he is in drag.
- Go off, Kim Chi.
- Oh my god. Is that Mayhem?
Oh my god! Arisce!
Ahh! (laughs excitedly)
Oh my gosh.
Is that Rhea? Ah!
Jazzmyne? Oh my god!
I know all of them! (laughs)
- I just love this scene.
He finally found a group
where he could just be himself.
- So, this looks like a--
just a celebration of Pride.
- Ohhh!
Oh my--
That was Pulse.
That represented Pulse.
- No! I can't.
- Ahhh!
Oh, he's getting beat up.
- Ah. And all the colors
stripped away now, and...
he's beaten and broken.
Ah.
- I cannot even deal with that.
- Hey, kind of been there.
I've been hit and punched
and kicked because of being gay.
- You know, there's people
in his family who are trying
to help him up,
but then the other side
is just arguing
with them.
- I feel like a majority
of the community watching this
right now can relate.
- Ah.
Dammit! (chuckles)
I can relate.
- They seem
to be arguing with each other.
Some are for.
Some are against.
- He's just gonna be himself
no matter everything else
going around him.
♪ (sorrowful orchestral music) ♪
- Man, this is...
I'm so enthralled.
I can't even talk.
It's just beautiful.
- Well, that's just showing off
at that point.
Look how gorgeous he looks.
- 'Cause it's not just a happy ending.
People like to tie it up
in a pretty package,
and it's still going on.
They're background,
but it's still very much
still affecting him.
- And then he's back.
This is representing
his childhood home.
- Eugene Lee Yang.
It's a beautiful piece of work.
- He did an amazing job with this.
- You see this,
and this is very loosely
a story that we've all experienced,
everyone in the LGBT community.
- It's moving, 'cause it's not
everything is happy
and rainbow-colored.
I mean, you fight hard
to get that rainbow
at the end of the storm.
- It's cool to see him
take aspects from his culture
and things that relate to him,
put it into a music video,
or a beautiful dance video,
and give you a story
of what real life is
for someone like him.
If he can be that brave
and continue to live his life
without hardship and strife,
then maybe I can too.
- (FBE) We have more to show you
in a second, but that was
Eugene Lee Yang's coming out video.
He's from the popular YouTube channel
the Try Guys.
- Try Guys. Yeah.
- (FBE) Eugene had publicly identified
as queer but never gave specifics
or insight into his sexuality
until releasing this video.
- I respect that.
- Everyone needs to come out
in the way that is most comfortable
for them.
No one should be outed.
No one should out you.
You should make the decision
when you're ready.
- (FBE) With June being Pride Month
and two very well-known YouTubers
coming out this month,
all the reactors
in this episode identify
as being part of the LGBTQ+ community
so that we can get a better idea
of what that experience has been like
across generations in 2019.
- That's absolutely incredible.
- That is so dope.
People need to have
these conversations,
and I'm glad that we have
this platform in order to do it.
- (FBE) So, we've gotten in touch
with both of the creators
that we're gonna feature
in this episode,
who have given us their blessing
to react to their videos
so that we can keep
the discussion going.
- Amazing. We can all relate
to these videos,
and I think it's awesome
that they gave us their blessing.
- (FBE) So next, we have
Daniel Howell's video.
- (claps) Yay!
I'm so proud of him.
I watched this one,
and I literally cried.
- (FBE) This is a cut-down version,
since the full video was too long
to work in an episode
of our show.
But after, we're gonna stop down
so you can watch the whole thing.
- Okay.
- I feel nervous
that I'm gonna cry!
(chuckles)
- (Dan voice-over) What is
Dan's sexuality?
- (laughs)
- (Dan) Spoiler alert.
I'm not straight.
Sex.
- (laughs) I love him already.
- (Dan) In the list of things
that identify a person,
one of the most important
for other people to know...
- For other people!
Literally, that's it.
- (Dan) ...is the primal force
propelling all of these humans
forward by their hips.
They have to know,
are we gonna [bleep] or like...
- Oh my god. This is so funny.
(chuckles)
- It's so stupid
why sexual preference
is such a thing.
And it's all fear-based.
- (Dan) people are presumed
to be straight.
If you're not,
then at some point,
you have to...
- Come out. Yeah.
It's infuriating.
- (Dan) Or people might
just try and guess
based on something you do
or the way you act,
because gay stereotypes.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah. He really had
to deal with that for so long,
and it's absolutely so upsetting.
- (Dan) So, strap yourselves in
and let me tell you
a queer little story
about a boy named Dan.
♪ (classical music) ♪
- ♪ When I was... ♪
- (sings along) ♪ A young boy ♪
- (Dan) I loved being
the center of attention.
- I bet you did.
- (Dan) But a boy in the '90s
being happy and generally
polite-acting sounds kind of gay
if you ask me.
I was six years old,
running around the playground,
when two brothers come up to me,
aged seven and eight.
- Uh-oh.
- (Dan) And the younger one
pushes me to the ground,
kicks me in the stomach,
and just says, (echoing) "Gay."
- Yeah. That word
in elementary school
spread like wildfire.
- (Dan) This was the first time
I ever heard that word.
- Ooh.
- (Dan) ...know
what the heck "gay" means,
but apparently...
- Six years old!
- (Dan) I don't know
what the heck "gay" means,
but apparently, it means
people kick you on the floor.
So, that ain't good.
But this whole
primary school journey
was really just an amuse-bouche
for the full six-course tasting menu
of suffering that would
be secondary school.
I went to a...
- Well, he's at a point in his life
where he can step back
and laugh at it all, kind of,
which is wonderful.
That's the perspective
we should have.
- (Dan) I went
to an all-boys school.
- I mean, I bet--
especially, if you're discovering
your sexuality in an all-boys school
and you turn out to like boys,
oh my gosh.
It must be a hassle.
- (Dan) There I was,
sat in English class,
my friend next to me.
I watched as he delicately
removes a pencil from his case.
- (laughs)
The graphics are really cute.
- (Dan) His eyes are so bright
and beautiful, yet they seem
so sad and deep with emotion.
I wish I could
just understand--
(record scratch)
Oh, [bleep]. I think I'm a bit gay.
You're telling me this whole time...
- Oh my god. This is so funny.
- (Dan) I wish I could
just understand--
(record scratch)
Oh, [bleep]. I think I'm a bit gay.
- (laughs)
- (Dan) You're telling me
this whole time,
I actually have been the bad thing
that people keep calling me?
- Oh my god.
That quote right there.
- Oh, do you hear that faint hum?
Something coming from
a deep, dark place
too powerful to control?
It's the self-hatred.
- (sighs) Oh god, honey.
- (Dan) A new word hit
the theater nerd goth band kid corner
that would change my world forever:
(echoing) bisexual.
- (laughs) Honestly.
- (Dan) It was a good time,
'cause it was a catch-all
for anyone who felt sexually confused
or curious that didn't want
to commit to something stronger.
- We didn't have that option, though.
When I came out, I didn't have that.
- (Dan) Regardless of whatever
the 2006 teenagers' thoughts
and feelings were,
being bi is valid
and should not be excused away
or erased by anyone.
- Facts.
- Bi erasure is one of the biggest--
I don't know. And I'm speaking
from personal experience,
but it's such a big issue
in the community right now.
- (Dan) From this moment,
I was a loud and proud raving bi
to my close friends...
- At least he thought so.
- (Dan) ...to my close friends
and the strangers on the Internet
who saw my clearly labeled
sexual preference on my Myspace page.
- I forgot Myspace was a thing.
- (Dan) Then I entered
the Dark Ages.
As quickly as they arrived
into my life, my emo friend group
vanished into the night.
This is when the bullying at school
really stepped its [bleep] up.
- (laughs)
- (Dan) The things people used to say
offhand to me in a corridor...
- That's one way to put it.
- (Dan) People used to
sing songs about me being gay
on the bus while my fellow nerds
sat around me, just stared awkwardly
out of the window.
Once a guy put his hand
around my throat and pushed
my head against a coat peg
in the locker room
while everyone was watching
and just slapped me
for five minutes.
I never cried or got angry
or fought back,
'cause then I'd be
giving them what they wanted.
- I feel that.
- I've had this kind
of discrimination and bigotry
in front of teachers
when I was growing up,
and nothing was done.
After just years
of violence,
I finally fought back.
And I'm not an advocate
for violence of any kind,
but it was literally in self-defense.
- (Dan) But this way
of dealing with things
definitely had an impact
on my relationship with emotion
going into life.
I became a total outcast.
No one wanted to come near me
out of fear that they'd get
targeted too, so no one
ever stood up for me.
The world was clearly telling me,
if I ever wanted to be accepted
by anyone or,
in my particular environment,
survive, I couldn't be gay.
I was afraid of it,
literally homophobic
of myself.
- "Homophobic of myself."
Yes! You just start to be like,
"Oh my god. I'm disgusting.
No one's gonna accept me."
- (Dan) I go away
for the summer break
and come back to school quiet
and serious and fully straight.
- Right.
- (Dan) But I was so afraid
of sexuality,
I didn't even wanna do
anything straight
in case I had some weird gay panic.
- I think that's something
that happens a lot.
I can't stand out.
I gotta fit in.
I gotta constantly watch
what I do, watch what I say.
- (Dan) I used to ask God
in case he was there
to please just make me straight
and everyone stop.
- I said that so many times.
- (Dan) One evening I thought,
"[Bleep] it"
and I attempted suicide.
- I knew people who committed suicide,
'cause they couldn't live
with the pain and the rejection.
- I pretended it never happened,
and I didn't tell anyone.
- I used to cut in middle school
and all that stuff
and just do all those types of things,
so I understand those dark places.
- (Dan) And I didn't tell anyone.
Until now. Literally.
- (sighs) This is so sad.
- (Dan) I'm so glad I failed
for so many reasons,
for the people in my life,
for the future I would have wasted,
the most important being that
I thought I was trapped
in a situation forever,
when in reality...
- I have a very similar instance
in my life where I was at my lowest
and that was actually
when I came out to my mom
as a teenager,
who's always been a proponent
of gay rights and an activist.
It was STILL the hardest thing
I ever did.
It was also the night
that I had tried to hurt myself.
So, I very much relate
to what he is saying.
- (Dan) I want anyone
that's ever felt like this
to realize you are never trapped.
There is always hope.
- I just goosebumps from that.
(chuckles)
- (Dan) My light at the end
of the tunnel was university.
Signed up for a Twitter account
to run my mouth off
and then bam.
- (past Dan) So, my name is Dan.
- (Dan) My YouTube story begins.
- I did not grow up with YouTube
or with computers.
- (Dan) And this is when,
through the magic of the internet,
I met Phil.
- Oh, Dan and Phil!
- (Dan) We are real best friends,
companions through life.
And especially to anyone
that has experienced the kind
of self-hatred that I've dealt with,
one person accepting you
can make all the difference.
- Absolutely. I was lucky
I had my daughters,
my four daughters
and two sisters who loved me.
- (Dan) There was a point around 2011
where the relationship
with my audience shifted from...
- Yeah.
- (Dan) Some people started
to really dig into my private life
to find out information about me
that I wasn't ready to share.
- Aww. That's invasive.
- (Dan) So, I just decided
to put anything to do
with my sexuality in a box
to come back to later as I was...
- Yeah, that's crazy.
- (Dan) And I wanted to understand
my identity on my own terms
and timeline and not just have it
hijacked as fuel
for people's sexual fantasies
or some headline in an article.
- I can't even imagine
how scared he was.
- (Dan) I have a platform
and a following of millions
of people, many of whom I know
have been through exactly what I have.
And if I tell my story,
as painful and flip-floppy
and flawed as it is,
I know it will mean something
to someone.
- Him just talking about it
is gonna help so many kids.
And I'm really proud of him
for doing that.
- (Dan) I don't like the stereotypes
and drama that come
with all this terminology,
so I'm just not gonna use it.
The thing is, gender identity...
- (chuckles) Oh my god. I love him.
- (Dan) Icons of masculinity
aren't really a big part of my life.
Might as well call me
a [bleep] formless blob.
That sounds more relatable.
- (amused) Formless blob.
See? He's got a sense
of humor about himself.
I love that.
- (Dan) But to come full circle,
I know that even today
deep in my heart,
the word gay scares me,
because that's how I've been
conditioned my whole life.
- Wow.
- (Dan) I finally have
to just confront and accept this.
- Yes!
- (Dan) I'm gay.
Oh, look. Didn't spontaneously
[bleep] combust.
Well, there we go.
That was a lot of stress
about nothing,
wasn't it?
One of the other big fears
holding me back was honestly
that I wouldn't be accepted
by the community.
I know that it's a big pride flag
covering a lot...
- So, he was afraid
of being rejected by gay people.
- (Dan) Most of it is amazing,
but there is a lot of drama
within it right now.
- So much drama.
Always-- It ain't just right now.
- (Dan) I had to tell my story
so people would understand me
and these things,
why coming out is still a big deal,
because queer people
are often invisible
and suffering...
- Yup.
- ...until they have to do it.
- Oh, yeah.
- (Dan) Queer people exist.
Choosing not to accept them
is not an option.
- Yeah.
- Queer people EXIST, honey!
- (Dan) Anyone watching this
that isn't out, it's okay.
- Yeah.
- (Dan) You're okay.
You were born this way.
- Love him.
- (Dan) Just know that living
your truth with pride
is the way to be happy.
- I love his attitude toward life.
- (Dan) It gets SO much better.
And the future is clear.
It's pretty queer.
- (chuckles) Very good.
- I really like that word too.
That's one of my favorites.
I don't know.
I use it quite a bit for myself.
It's almost an umbrella term,
I feel like at this point,
which I really enjoy,
'cause it's like--
I don't know.
I'm still 17 years old.
Who knows?
I just know that not straight
and probably not entirely gay either,
so queer sounds
like a good word to me.
- Had little GTM seen this video
growing up, I probably would have
come out earlier.
It's time to, you know,
really just promote the health
and betterment of every community.
- If I saw this video
when I was 13, holy [bleep].
I would just play it
on a loop every night
before I go to bed.
So, he's talking about all the ways
that people bullied him.
I had trash cans thrown on me.
I was kicked out of school.
I had [bleep] go down,
because I was gay.
I was 12 years old
when this happened,
so I can relate to him
on a lot of levels.
- Look at how he's used
these negative experiences,
these terrible experiences
to create something beautiful,
something positive,
something that can help other people.
Listening to that
can be very helpful, I think,
to somebody who may be
getting the [bleep] kicked out of 'em
on the bus.
- (FBE) Both of these videos
dealt with people coming out.
Could you share with us
your own experience
with coming out?
- So, I'm kind of using
this video as an excuse
to come out
to my parents.
So, I'm gonna be going home today
and doing that.
(ding)
- My dad and I had been getting
into a lot of arguments.
I packed up my stuff,
and then I ended up moving out here
with my mom.
And when I moved out here,
one thing my dad made clear
before I left was leave everything
that I bought you here.
So, I'm like, "Okay."
So, that included my phone.
My dad had gone through my phone
and saw conversations
between me and my friends
about me questioning my sexuality.
My dad was just screaming
over the phone.
He goes like, "I don't know why
you didn't feel
comfortable telling me!"
And then my mom was on the phone.
She goes, (whispers) "Are you gay?"
(chuckles) And I'm like,
"I think so."
She goes, "Stop calling
my damn phone."
And then she hung up.
And then it was a thing.
From there, I just started
coming out to my friends at school,
started telling them, like,
"This is who I am."
- My partner Joel and I
have been together for 53 year--
It'll be 53 years next month.
And we met in our high school.
Eventually, people surmised
that we were gay.
There was no big coming out
kind of thing.
It just happened.
We were around when Stonewall happened
and we would be down
on Greenwich Avenue
and walking back and forth
with probably 50,000 other gay men.
All over the world,
there are gay men's choruses now.
We were at the first performance
of the first one.
(choked up) I'm sort of
getting a little, you know...
Okay. All right.
The very first one in San Francisco.
- For me, I lived my life in terror
that anyone would find out who I was,
that someone would find out
that I'm this weird freak
who has this kind of
mental construct going on.
I thought, "Jesus, you're some sort
of weird freak or something.
There's something
terribly wrong with you."
I'm being victimized by these feelings
that I just don't seem to control.
And I don't understand them,
and there's nobody to talk to.
I can't talk to anyone
for the first 50 years of my life.
When I got to a place in my life
where I just couldn't do it anymore,
where I just couldn't take
one more step, one more breath
actually without recognizing
the truth of who I was,
and when I came to that decision,
I knew that there was gonna be
a great price,
a very, very heavy price
to pay for that.
And I decided it was worth the price.
So, I went to my bosses
and I told them.
And they were stunned.
As soon as they could,
they shoved me out the door.
This was 14 years ago.
On the other hand,
I have four daughters.
When I told them,
their response was,
"Are you gonna be happy?"
And I said, "Yeah, I think so.
I think so."
And they said, "Well, we love you,
and that's all we care about
is that you're happy."
And they call me "Mom"
and we have an amazing relationship.
- I came out sort of gradually,
I'd say around the age of 15 or 16.
This really hot Brazilian guy
started following us.
This is my first experience
with a guy actually pursuing me.
And obviously, I've known
I was gay my entire life.
But I never really jumped
on the opportunity.
And then I go
and tell my best friend, Kayla.
That was sort of the start
of me essentially going
on the journey.
I didn't come out to my parents
until, I wanna say,
later in that year.
It just took some time.
And yeah, I'm happy to say now
that my family is extremely,
extremely supportive.
My dad, the other day...
He's finishing up--
he's a nursing practitioner.
He's gonna be a doctor.
And he called me.
He was like, "Hey,
I just want to discuss pronouns
with you, because it's a big thing
in the medical field now,
and I don't wanna be rude to anyone
that comes into my practice."
I just literally
started bawling immediately,
'cause I was like--
I just never thought that when I was--
I never thought when I was little
that eventually in the future
I'd be having a conversation
about pronouns with my dad.
It gave me even more hope.
I just feel like it was just, like,
wow, times are really changing.
- The first person
I personally came out to--
I was in counseling in my senior year
just for other personal reasons.
So, I was leaving
a counseling session one day.
He gave me an article.
Actually, I kept it
and I found it
and I brought it with me.
It's just a little, I guess,
case models just talking
about sexuality.
After my counseling session,
my mom was sitting in the car.
I'm like, "Mom, don't read this
until I'm in the store."
So, a few minutes later,
I come back out
of the doughnut shop,
and my mom's just
bawling her eyes out.
And she's just crying.
She wasn't sad because I was gay.
She was happy.
She was like, "I've always known."
And she was just waiting
for me to tell her.
I actually came out
to millions of people online before.
When I did
the Troye Sivan video,
that's when I officially
said it, yeah.
I talked about it more,
and people were like,
"Oh my god.
He's coming out."
So, for the longest time,
when anybody in my family didn't know,
they would ask me about React.
"Tell them which videos
you've been in."
I would shut down,
and I would be like,
"No, I'm not telling you
any videos I'm in,"
'cause I was afraid.
- (FBE) You were afraid
that they would find--
- That they'd watch the video,
and they would find out.
I didn't tell my dad,
but I think one of his sisters did,
'cause I woke up one morning
and just saw a text from him.
He was just saying,
"I will always be proud of you."
- When I finally actually
told my parents,
it was in high school.
I literally grew up
seeing the opposition,
like going to marches
and rallies and seeing
the hateful signs
and hearing everything
that people were yelling at even me
as a child.
I can only imagine not having
any kind of support,
how hard that would be.
I have tons of friends
who were kicked out of the house.
And that's why it's so important
for me to be my authentic self
to everyone I come across,
on the show, because I've fought
to live this far.
Words carry a lot of weight,
but they're not the thing
that's gonna break me.
I've been through way too much,
so it's really important, I think,
for me to come out
and talk about all these things.
- I was LIVING with Laura already.
And my mom says, "You know,
what are you gonna do
if Laura meets a guy
and wants to move in?"
Then I tried to change the subject.
And then there was one more.
And finally, I looked at her.
I'm like, "Mom, I'm gay."
And she goes, "Oh.
Well, that's just great."
And I'm like, "Yeah. It's fine.
I mean, do you wanna do this?
Do you wanna talk about this or what?"
And she's like, "No, I'm fine.
Let's just go.
I wanna run to Macy's."
I'm like, "Great."
"I'll tell your father."
Laura and I went over.
And they had already met her
a couple times,
and they were different to her.
And so, we left.
And I went back into the house
and I just told my parents,
I said, "Look, you either treat Laura
with respect and treat her
the same way as you were before
you found out or I'm gone,
and you won't see me anymore."
And so, then thankfully,
they chose me.
In fact, I've had a lot
of my family tell me if we ever
break up or get a divorce
that they're gonna keep her,
which is valid.
- I came out to one
of my best friends in art class
in seventh grade,
and he was like, "Oh!
I have a friend that's a lesbian,
and her name is..." Blank.
"And she's really cute,
and you guys would totally get along."
So, I hit up "Blank"
and fell in love overnight.
I was 12. She was 11.
Until one day,
little miss Haley gets called
into the principal's office.
The principal goes,
"So, we've been hearing rumors
that you're
in a homosexual relationship."
I confirmed it, because I
didn't have any reason to lie.
And she goes, "We're gonna have
to call your parents."
I was sent to Christian therapy.
And she was trying to convince me,
you know, that I was straight.
Throughout high school,
told myself I was bisexual
because of all the things
that I went through.
The only people that I was
in communication with
were against me if I was gay.
And I thought, "Okay. Well,
then I need to be against me
if I'm gay."
I had a terrible, terrible,
terrible time when I would self-harm
really, really bad.
When I was 18,
I reconciled with the girl
from when I was 12.
We didn't get back together,
but we would hang out,
and I would be like,
"Oh, [bleep].
Everything is still here.
The feelings are still here."
It was terrifying.
Then I dated a girl.
She kind of showed me
that it was okay.
She took me to West Hollywood,
and I saw other people my age
who were comfortable with themselves.
And that changed my life forever.
- (FBE) So, back to Eugene
and Dan's videos,
Eugene has publicly
identified as queer,
but never went into specifics
into the fact that he is gay
until releasing this video.
Online creators have come out
in many ways over time.
But what are your thoughts
on how he chose to come out
through dance and music
through this project?
- Ah, beautiful!
The fact that he chose
to do it in an artistic way
is such a representation
of who he is.
- I think everybody's
coming out is perfect,
because it's each their own.
- It kind of shows that he's still
not totally comfortable.
He decided to express himself
a different way.
It shows kids that you don't have
to be 100% comfortable going,
"Hey, I'm gay!"
But you can kind of show
in other ways.
- He decided to take it
to a whole other level
and showcase representation,
culture, family, religion, sex,
just the whole shablam of life
as someone who identifies as queer.
And going back to Dan,
he mentioned there had been
some speculation and pressure
regarding his sexuality
for a while now.
What do you think about Dan's choice
to finally come out
after already spending
so much time in the public eye?
- I think it's even harder
when you have some kind
of spotlight on you.
It feels like there's more people
to, I guess, "disappoint."
- It took a great deal of courage
for him to do that,
and I'm very grateful that he did,
and I think that somebody's life
is gonna be changed by that video.
- In some ways, I think it's harder.
In some ways,
I think it's easier, because...
It's harder, because you're gonna
have so many more opinions.
You're gonna have people
that you don't know
arguing against you.
But also, it's a lot easier,
because you will still have
all the people that support you.
I think when you're not
a public figure,
there's challenges in there as well,
because you have such a smaller pool
of people, especially when
you're in a state not like California.
- (FBE) So, this episode is
being released in the month of June,
which is also LGBTQ+ Pride Month,
where celebrations take place
across the US to celebrate
the queer community.
As a member of the community,
can you talk about your thoughts
on Pride?
- Honestly, the start of June,
my gay meter is like WOOO!
Y'all get every other frickin' month.
This is mine.
- I like seeing the gay pride,
and we've gone to many gay parades.
And actually, I said we went
to the first gay chorus.
We were also in the first gay parade.
The first gay parade was nothing
more than a march from the Village
up to Central Park.
- I love Pride SO much!
It's so cool that we can just be here
and everyone can be themselves.
And there are still the people
holding the picket signs.
It's so cool, because the community
just stands up and they're like,
"We don't care what you think.
We're still gonna be our best selves."
- It's difficult, because it's still
not totally inclusive.
That's the problem with movements
is sometimes they become very much
whitewashed and watered down
to make it palatable for the masses.
But in the same token,
it makes me happy to see people
who are queer or any part
of this community celebrating that
when there's so much shame.
- I have an amazing tribe
of family around me.
Not everybody has been able
to build that tribe.
And so, walking into Pride
for that moment is sometimes
the first time or the one time a year
that they can take that deep breath,
they can be who they are
and not worry about are they gonna
be kicked out, judged or whatever.
When you've gone through the amount
of oppression and nonconformity
of it all, you should be able
to celebrate the liberation
and changes that you've made
as a community and the steps
that we've taken to ensure
the betterment of young
queer-identifying people,
because our elders in the community
had it awful.
They were the ones
that paved the path for us
to be able to feel 100% ourselves
and be authentic
and express ourselves.
And it's important
to remember those people.
- (FBE) Before we finish this episode,
with the experiences
you've been through,
what do you wanna say
to those people
who haven't come out yet,
if you could give them any advice?
- Don't feel pressured.
Literally, it is your experience.
And however you choose
to experience it
is gonna be valid.
- I will only tell you
that it's never as scary
as you imagined it's going to be.
In the long run, the only way
you can be happy is
to live your truth.
- Like I said, I--
throwback to my Troye Sivan video,
but if you feel
like you have nobody out there
to support you, I I will be there.
I will be there to support you.
Know that you have one person
in your corner.
- If I was talking to a friend,
I would say, "When you're ready,
I will be here.
When you're not ready, I'll be here.
I'll be here regardless for you."
- (FBE) Lastly, what do you wanna say
to those who have trouble
accepting the LGBTQ+ community?
- (sighs)
I feel like there's so much to say.
It doesn't have to apply to you
for you to accept it.
And so accept and love
regardless of how you feel
or your opinions,
because love is the only thing
that unites all of us.
- Just be open to the idea
that people are different from you.
And don't be afraid to ask questions,
because, I mean, how are you gonna
get through life trying to coexist
if we don't actually talk.
- The trans community
doesn't represent a threat to you.
We're not coming to marry your sons
or turn people to gay or trans
or any of that sort of stuff.
Whatever you imagine the trans people,
whatever negatives
you've dredged up in your mind
about the trans community,
those are all stereotypes
that are based upon fear and ignorance
and all that sort of stuff.
Just let me be who I am
and accept me and understand
that just like you,
I'm a divine being.
- We're not going anywhere.
And to be honest with you,
we've been here.
We've just been hiding ourselves,
because we were afraid.
But it's about to be 2020.
It's 2019.
The visibility is clear.
The fog is gone.
From the jump,
we've accepted you guys,
so why can't you accept us?
- Thanks for watching
this important episode of React.
- If you need help
or more information,
check out the links
in the description.
- Even if you're unsure
about the thoughts and topics
of this conversation,
we appreciate you listening,
and thanks for taking
a few minutes to understand us.
- Thanks for watching, guys. Bye!
