Cancel culture has created this belief that as soon as someone says something problematic they should be pushed to the side and no one should listen to them again. Although there are certain things you cannot come back from because they are hateful and cause harm, there are people who have been canceled who only needed to be educated. A lot of the comments people make these days come from an uneducated place. Instead of canceling them and shaming them, we should try to educate them on the topics that matter. One of those topics is queer culture and the LGBTQ+ community.
People tend to make comments about the LGBTQ+ community without knowing anything about its history or understanding the terms used to refer to individuals in this community. Then, they are canceled for making assumptions and not educating themselves on topics that are important. Yes, there are people who make comments simply from a place of homophobia. They will never learn, no matter how hard we try to teach them. There are those, however, who speak without having done any research, but are willing to expand their knowledge. If you are one of those, here are four queer IG accounts you should be following to educate yourself.
mattxiv
Matt Bernstein describes himself as a queer jew fair in stiletto nails. Most people know him as the gay guy with nice nails and cool poses. But the truth is Matt has been using his platform — with over 803K followers — to share information regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
He creates aesthetically pleasing posts with information, images, sources, and quotes for his followers to understand more about the community. They are catchy because the first slide is an image of him doing an extravagant pose or showing his nails and a quick description of what the post will be about. He has discussed topics such as the importance of lesbians in the community, the history of HIV, expressing masculinity, religion and sexuality, and homophobia, among others.
Matt is the kind of influencer you want to follow because he has created a safe space for people to educate themselves on topics they may not have heard of while sharing stories that make people smile during tough times.
zoestoller
Zoe is a digital creator who has taken to IG to share their life and educate on important topics relevant to the LGBTQ+ community. She describes herself as a writer, educator, social work student, genderfluid aroace lesbian, and mental health warrior who uses the pronouns she/they interchangably.
Their account is a beautiful representation of the kind of life queer individuals can lead. A lot of the time people from the community are afraid to come out because they are told life will be difficult for them. Although that can be true, life can be just as beautifully as Zoe portrays it through the photos she shares of her life with her partner. But that is not all they do!
Using their digital creation talent, they have created beautiful posts that share information on different topics that affect or involve the queer community. Some of them include asexuality, aromantic people, xenogender, ways to come out, the differences between sexualities, and LGBTQ+ myths.
Zoe is the account you want to follow for inspiration, motivation, and education.
mentallylgbtq
Unlike the previous accounts, mentallylgbtq is not run by a well-known influencer. On the contrary, we do not know who is behind every post. Is it one person? Is it a group of people trying to create a safe place for queer individuals? We do not know and we do not need to know because at the end of the day they have reached their goal and that is what matters the most.
One quick glance at this account will show their main goal is to create a safe space — “you’re safe here,” reads their bio — for their 127K followers. Through very colorful posts, they have managed to share relatable memes, famous tweets, and the history of the LGBTQ+ community. Instead of focusing on one letter or one person, they open the space for everyone to understand more about themselves or those around them.
This account has managed to make information accessible by talking about what sexuality means, what gender is, and sharing a little bit of history. They are the ones you want to follow for a daily dose of information and smiles.
lgbtqreads
A lot of the information younger individuals receive these days comes from a long list of influencers who use their platforms to share what they know and what they believe in. But at times that is not enough. There are moments in which you need to turn to literature to find your place in this world or to understand yourself better. That is when lgbtqreads comes into play.
Although they are a smaller account — with a little over 6,000 followers — they continue to share their knowledge on queer books almost on a daily basis. They share different kinds of books that will help queer individuals feel represented or seen. According to them, they are queering up our shelves one recommendation at a time, and honestly that is what the world needs more of. We need to not be afraid of reading books outside our comfort zone. You do not need to be queer to read these books, you just need to want to enjoy literature.
This is the account you should be following if you are into books and want to see more accurate representation.
You should be following them
Educating ourselves is a task that will never end. People believe once you are out of school or you have graduated college you know everything you should know. But the truth is we never stop learning, and that is why cancel culture does not always work. There are individuals willing to learn more, to change their opinions, and understand the world a bit better. These four queer IG accounts you should be following to educate yourself are proof that we can all learn more and become more accepting of those around us.
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