That was certainly the case for Naomi Hearts, a trans Latina creator who shares content surrounding body positivity and LGBTQ+ activism with her 1.1 million TikTok followers. Hearts came out and began her transition before she was given a platform, but she still feels the moral imperative to speak about her identity on social media. “I remember when I first started [TikTok]“I haven’t really said anything about being transgender,” she tells them. “I was just existing and then I felt the need… because I think about visibility [in the media] is important.”
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Nevertheless, she finds that she constantly expresses herself on the Internet. “It’s in my bio, I’ve made several videos about it,” she explains. “I just think that’s not what people are looking for. Whether I decide to come out or not is of course my decision, but that always confuses me. It's like it's there. I’m open about it.”
Tilley has a slightly different perspective on the topic. “I think I’ve always seen it [coming out] as something brave that people are doing,” she shares. “And then when I did, I remember thinking about how I hope one day people no longer feel the need/pressure to be brave in order to love who they want to love.”
Culturally, we may be getting closer to the kind of era Tilley describes — particularly for cisgender LGB people, who have gained mainstream social acceptance and visibility more quickly than the transgender community. These trends have led to more Generation Z people coming out in general; According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 20 percent of Americans in this cohort identify as LGBTQ+. A record number of openly LGBTQ+ elected officials are now holding office in American politics, and a 2022 GLAAD report found that we have reached a new record for gay representation in films. As hearts and minds continue to change, queer public figures may no longer feel compelled to reveal their sexuality in service of a political agenda.
But cavalier coming outs aren't necessarily easier or safer, especially for trans people. When YouTube star and MrBeast contributor Kris Tyson came out as transgender in an interview with YouTuber Anthony Padilla in July, she received a barrage of transphobic comments. Elliot Page described a 2022 transphobic attack that occurred after he came out in his 2022 memoir “Pageboy,” while trans celebrities like Dylan Mulvaney and Laverne Cox have faced similar hate online and in person after speaking out about their transitions had.
“As we become more visible, we often see greater backlash, particularly from the vocal minority of people in this country who oppose our identity,” Bright-Williams adds. And while a recent GLAAD report found that 84 percent of non-LGBTQ+ Americans support equal rights for the queer community, it also found that fewer than 30 percent personally know a transgender person. That may explain why a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are being introduced in states across the U.S., the majority of which target our nation's more than 300,000 transgender youth. It could also be the reason for trans celebrities' more mixed experiences.
Although the occasional coming out is becoming increasingly popular, that doesn't mean that these revelations carry any less weight, even for public figures. We still live in a kisheteronormative world; As long as queer and trans people are targets of legal and literal violence, sharing our identity with the world will remain an act of courage and self-assurance.
Celebrity or not, everyone deserves the grace to open up at their own time and on their own terms. That might mean doing it on social media, in a TV interview, or not doing it at all. Perhaps the true “new normal” around coming out is a greater sense of autonomy to make that decision in a way that, as Tilley puts it, “feels the most free and liberated.”
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