Growing up in rural southwest Alabama, there was hardly any queer representation for young Sean Atchison. At school, teachers hid their identities and students made sly side comments.
“The representation in my real, physical life was awful. It was hidden,” Atchison, now 23, reflected on his early teen years. He was trying to “figure out” more about himself, he told USA TODAY, but had no where to turn.
Then he found YouTube.
In the early 2010s, countless LGBTQIA+ artists took to YouTube to share their sexuality and gender identity journeys, whether through vlogs showcasing their everyday lives, or more serious, sit-down conversations with the camera where they answered questions fielded by subscribers. Some prominent queer YouTubers of this time included Tyler Oakley, Connor Franta, Gigi Gorgeous, Ingrid Nilsen, Joey Graceffa, Hannah Hart, King(sley) and Troye Sivan.
Unlike mainstream television and film where queer audiences see themselves represented in a character, which was still limited at the time, YouTube provided an unprecedented window into queer lives.
“There’s a way that the creator sharing a personal story is something that was different than most other legacy media at that time,” Hollis Griffin, associate communication and media professor at University of Michigan, told USA TODAY. “It’s very intimate, it’s very off the cuff. There’s a warmth to it.”
In celebration of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 10, USA TODAY spoke with queer adults who grew up with these creators to learn more about the platform’s impact.
Atchison, who now lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said one of the first LGBTQIA+ YouTubers he watched was makeup artist James Charles, who, as of Oct. 8, boasted more than 24 million YouTube subscribers. Charles’ first YouTube video on his current account was posted in 2016.
“I wasn’t even really into makeup,” Atchison said about watching Charles’ videos. “But I guess the thought of seeing someone gay on YouTube or on my screen was actually just validating to me that I was OK.”
Alex Dzurick, 35, grew up in Fulton, Missouri, a town of about 12,500 people 25 miles north of Jefferson City, Missouri. He began watching YouTube earlier, around 2007-08, a few years after the platform launched in 2005. The first LGBTQIA+ YouTuber he watched was Connor Franta, whose 2014 coming out video had more than 12 million views, as of Oct. 8.
“I think for many of us, it was the first time we got to see the so-called ‘daily life’ of queer people. I think deep down we knew they were vlogging and it wasn’t all ‘real,’ but at least we knew they were real people with real lives and not just fictional characters,” Dzurick told USA TODAY. “Especially for someone like me, who grew up in a rural place, I didn’t know many other out queer folks, so this was a chance to really live in that queer space for a little while.”
In addition to providing a more personal space, YouTube promoted a more diverse look at the queer experience.
“I think mainstream media was still usually very white, middle-class gay man focused,” Mia Fischer, associate communications professor at University of Colorado Denver, told USA TODAY. “(YouTube) really exposed folks to the beautiful breadth and variety that exists within the queer community.”
The transgender community was really able to shine on YouTube throughout the 2010s. During this time, trans characters may have been in mainstream media, but they were usually played by cisgender men, Fischer said. The 2013 film “Dallas Buyers Club” in which Jared Leto played a trans woman is a well-known example.
Gigi Gorgeous, came to fame in the late 2010s, sharing her experience as a transgender woman freely online. As of Oct. 8, she had 2.7 million subscribers on the platform.
Queer creators of color also found a safe haven on YouTube. King Russel, known on YouTube as King(sley), began posting sketches and Q&A-style videos in 2011. The creator is popularly known for his “Overexposed” series, in which he discusses (and roasts) the latest in pop culture. He had more than 2.6 million YouTube subscribers, as of Oct. 8.
“Me as a kid: Watching Kingsley on the bus. Me now: Watching kingsley on the clock,” on YouTube user commented on a recent King(sley) video.
Lesbian content creators also flocked to YouTube in the early 2010s.
Hailey Brown, 26, began watching YouTube as a preteen on her iPod Touch in Springfield, Missouri. Brown told USA TODAY one of the first lesbian creators she watched was Amy Ordman. Rather than centering her content on the lesbian experience, Ordman focused on comedy.
Brown said Ordman’s videos, in addition to content from creators like Shannon Beveridge, Cammie Scott and Ally Hills, helped her realize that if “they could show the world proudly” who they were, so could she.
Though many YouTubers who popped off in the 2010s still create content, many focus their time and energy on other mediums and platforms like podcasting and TikTok. Troye Sivan, on the other hand, has grown in the pop music industry, performing alongside artists like Charli XCX and Dua Lipa in recent years.
Brown said she doesn’t watch the lesbian creators who used to be on YouTube anymore, but she occasionally tunes into their content when it pops up on other platforms.
“It’s less of an identity thing for me to watch queer creators now than it was back then,” Brown said. “Now, it’s more of a comfort and community that I feel when I watch their content, since I’m fully out and have a wife.”
Atchison echoed Brown’s remarks, noting he doesn’t have much interest in watching creators like Oakley, Sivan and Charles anymore.
“Maybe I’ve benefited from their courage, in the sense that I don’t necessarily need their courage anymore,” he said. “I don’t need someone to help me own who I am. I can do this myself. I’m really grateful they played a part in helping me see that.”
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.