TYLER OAKLEY

The pioneering YouTuber on how he plans to use his platform and privilege to educate on LGBTQ issues across the world.

The internationally-adored queer YouTuber on putting his sexuality at the forefront of his digital world, understanding his privilege, learning to ignore the battering of homophobic online hate, and why we should all be supporting the international LGBTQ communitiy. Oh, and he spills the T on his recent appearance on Drag Race, but did Tyler tuck for Mama Ru? We found out.

For many queer millennials, Tyler Oakley will have been the first openly gay person they ever knew, regardless of the computer screen that stood between them. His videos, which see him tackle issues facing the LGBTQ community with the help of A-listers like Janet Mock and Gus Kenworthy, have provided representation for the community that would’ve been unimaginable for previous generations.

But when he uploaded his very first video to YouTube over a decade ago, Tyler had no idea just how much of an impact his voice would have on the world. In fact, to begin with, he didn’t even want the world to tune in.

“When I first started making videos, it was just a way to keep in touch with friends from high school. It was just me talking to my three friends and telling them stories,” he explains. “But as time went on I realised there were a lot more people than just my three friends watching. It kind of blew my mind that I had this opportunity to speak to people who I didn’t even know.”

Aside from being one of the original pioneers of the vlo‹er lifestyle, Tyler also made waves for being the first openly gay YouTube star to really hit the big time. Unlike many of today’s stars, Tyler didn’t even need to make a coming out video – his sexuality was just another part of his persona, which provided the ‘everyday gay’ representation that a lot of young queer people needed at the time.

“I came out [as gay] when I was 14, and I spent my entire high school years really just being myself,” he recalls. “So being gay had always been part of who I was online, it was never a secret I was trying to hide. It was very much a part of the stories I was telling and the way I was navigating my college experience.

“While I thought it didn’t really mean anything, when I started to gain a following the most surprising comments were from young gay people saying, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never known another gay person’. Watching me just being myself, not even talking about the coming out experience or anything like that, just watching a gay man navigate life was really something that resonated with an audience.

“To be able to log on and hear stories directly from queer people themselves – as opposed to seeing representation in the media that’s often written by straight people, and often based on harmful stereotypes – that can make a huge difference, and I think it’s a way to humanise any type of experience. For people who are living in isolated communities, YouTube is kind of a portal into other worlds.”

With 7.7 million subscribers on YouTube and over 660 million views across his plethora of videos, Tyler is without a doubt one of the most influential gay men of his generation. But how do you begin to quantify that level of success and reach when all your followers are watching from the comfort of their own homes?

“It’s really hard to think about the numbers and realise how many people there are,” he admits. “You can’t really visualise it. But I remember once I was at a Michigan State football game, and I knew I had more subscribers than could fit into that stadium, and that just blew my mind to think that all those people could be impacted by my videos.”

Of course, Tyler’s immense level of success and his ability to create so openly is partly thanks to his upbringing – “I was raised in a community where I felt okay with who I was and my mom and step-dad were always really supportive,“he says – and also the privilege that he’s afforded as a white, cisgender gay man. Fortunately, this is something he’s intent on acknowledging through his work.

“I have my platform for many reasons, and a lot of them are from privileges that a lot of incredibly talented people who make much better videos than me do not have,” he says. “I take it seriously to use my platform to say I’m not going to speak for these communities, I’m going to literally hand over my microphone or hand over my camera and say ‘What would you say if you had the same audience and could speak to these people directly?’ That’s so important.”

And hand over the microphone he did, as his original YouTube series Chosen Family – which debuted in 2017 – saw him tackle the experience of LGBTQ refugees in the United States, explore the history of the LGBTQ rights movement, and invite a variety of voices from the community to share their perspectives and discuss the issues that matter to them. This year, as the show returns for a second season, Tyler wants to go even deeper.

“I wanted to bring together people from all different kinds of backgrounds within the queer community, to show that there is so much diversity – whether that’s religion or race or age or upbringing – and to show the things we have in common, but also to show the things we disagree on, and listen to each other and grow from that,” he explains.

“While we are so wrapped up in what we’re trying to fight for in our local communities, we have to remember that our chosen family is truly global, and while we might be fighting for samesex marriage in one part of the world, a lot of queer people are fighting just to exist in another part of the world. I just try to be mindful that the queer experience is not something that is uniform, and my privileges should not absolve me of working towards equality for people who don’t have the same privileges.

“This series is something that I know I would’ve needed when I was growing up, because you don’t learn about a lot of these things and you don’t hear a lot of these perspectives – whether that’s through media or education – and if I can do my little part of maybe adding some stories to a narrative that often are erased or dismissed, then I’m doing my job.”

While Tyler may have dedicated much of his online presence to pushing forward the plight of the LGBTQ community, there’s of course still room for having fun, including his appearance on the most recent season of RuPaul’s Drag Race which saw him and fellow social media influencers receive makeovers from the queens – a career high for the self-confessed super fan.

“Drag Race is the Gay Super Bowl for me and all of my friends,” he gushes. “It’s something that brings us together, so to go on the show was a dream come true. It was the hardest secret I’ve ever kept! We filmed it last October, I didn’t tell anybody I was going to be on it, and when I walked into the workroom and saw so many of my friends who were also going to be made over, it was exactly the support I needed because I was so nervous!

“Also, one of my best friends Raymond Braun was there, and we both screamed because we’re both so good at keeping secrets, and we hadn’t told each other even though we tell each other everything. So when we walked into the workroom and saw each other we were both like, ‘Bitch! How dare you keep this from me!’ It was so much fun.”

Of course, we have to ask the most important question... did Tyler tuck? “I did tuck!” he laughs. “You know, I told Monét X Change at the start, ‘Everything that is part of this experience I am 100% on board for, anything I can do to really immerse myself in this experience, please take me on that journey’. I was down. Tucking wasn’t even a stress for me, I was like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m doing that!’ Drag queens to me are beacons of hope and light in the community, and for so many people they are an escape from everything that can feel so heavy in the world. Just from being on the show I gained so much respect for what they do. It is a true art form.”

The sight of RuPaul in full drag is one that not many get to experience in person, and Tyler’s well aware of how lucky he is to have witnessed it.

“If I can do my little part of maybe adding some stories to a narrative that often are erased or dismissed, then I’m doing my job. ”

“Oh my God, I mean, RuPaul was something else,” he recalls with joy. “The fact that Ru said to me in the workroom, ‘You got a thick ass’, that will forever be a cherished memory. It was too much. When the episode aired and I was watching myself walk down the runway, it was just so surreal. That entire environment, while it is a competition, was just gleeful and everyone was cheering each other on and I loved every second. And Ru looked incredible, obviously!”

To many, Tyler’s living the gay man’s dream. Not only does he get to make a career out of his creative passions and appear on Drag Race, he also gets to work alongside some of the world’s most influential – and gag-worthy – celebrities and influencers that are so beloved by the community. But does he still get starstruck, even now?

“I do get starstruck, but by the most random people,” he says. “I feel like on paper I should have been starstruck by Michelle Obama, but she was just so wonderful and charming and sweet and kind and funny that her presence doesn’t really allow that. I just loved my experience with her, and she’ll always remain a legendary icon. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, I had to really consciously keep my cool. She’s my number one, I would take a bullet for her, I love her that much.”

Meeting gay icons is definitely a perk of the job, but Tyler has also made a point of using his voice

to bring attention to the politicians and activists who are helping to fight for our rights. In the recent US presidential election, for example, he travelled across the country to encourage young people to vote, and even joined former White House hopeful Hillary Clinton at some of her rallies.

“It felt like it was a really important thing to do, it felt like a lot was at stake and I’m really glad in hindsight that I did what I could do,” he says. Though some might argue that a YouTuber has no place in the world of politics, Tyler doesn’t agree – in fact, he thinks it’s a “missed opportunity” for those in his position to refrain from speaking out.

“I think my bi‚est duty as someone with a platform is to encourage my own audience to think for themselves, and to get involved,” he explains. “I would never want to say, ‘Here’s how you should think’, but I would hope tow be able to use my platform to disseminate information that I think is pertinent and important, and let my audience think for themselves.

“But just from reading the comments every day on my videos, I trust the intelligence of my audience to be able to see who’s evil in the world and who’s trying to make a difference. Idefinitely think that people with a platform have... not necessarily a responsibility, but an opportunity to make an impact and to encourage people to get involved. If you don’t step up to the plate and encourage your audience to get involved in any way they can, I think it’s just a missed opportunity.”

If you’ve ever ventured into the YouTube comments section, you’ll know that they’re not always the kindest of places – especially when the content is LGBTQ-focused. The anonymity that the internet provides unfortunately gives many the feeling that they can say what they want without any consequences. And while Tyler is no stranger to the barrage of hateful messages that litter social media every day, he’s finally reached a point in his life where he’s able to brush it all off.

“I feel like I probably got a lot more hate when I was younger. Either that, or I just paid attention to it more then. When I first started YouTube I was 18, and I took a lot of things to heart, I took people’s projections of their own insecurities as attacks on me instead of what they were,” he says.

“Now that I’m almost 30, I simply just don’t care. The things that would’ve affected me at 18, I just laugh at or skip over because it doesn’t even register in my brain. Anything that you could say about me I’ve read a million times at this point. And besides, I have better things to do with my time than argue with a stranger on the internet. I definitely want my audience to challenge me and hold me accountable, but I don’t respond to unfounded hate or drama. That’s just a waste of everybody’s time.”

With a new generation of queer YouTubers making waves online, it’s important to provide a reminder that while we may have the majority of our rights in more progressive places like the UK and US, there are countries around the world where people aren’t quite so lucky.

“It’s great that a lot of younger people think, ‘Duh, of course we should have same-sex marriage’, but I would hope that people don’t see that as an end game,” he says. “There are places around the US where you can still be fired or be discriminated against when adopting or for being openly queer. Just the ability to live is up in the air for a lot of queer people in countries where being LGBTQ is illegal or punishable by death.

“Until that is something we start to tackle as a global community, then we still have plenty of work to do.”