recently (Ru-Paul’s Drag Race). With Twitter, my friends and I created private accounts back in high school. We used the accounts almost like personal diaries, similar to Instagram Close Friends now. Today, most of my friends are off of Twitter, but I still held on to my account. I don’t post anything anymore, but I pretty much exclusively follow my favorite celebs or funny gays. It’s where I can keep up with what’s popular and what’s going on in the community. I always knew about RuPaul, but never gave it a shot before someone gave me a handy little guide as to where to start if you’ve never seen it (skip season one, go straight to season six). It’s such a cultural touchstone for the LGBTQ+ community, and it’s fun to keep up with. Sam Miller, 20, They/Them Do you have a digital space or platform in which you are most comfortable being queer? This January, a couple of my friends from AUP encouraged me to get involved in “bookstagram.” It’s where very aesthetic literature and book-loving Instagrammers post about their favorite novels, current reads and interact with authors and publishers. I found a community of queer bookstagrammers who post mostly about queer books and literature. In the comments and DMs, we’ve had in-depth conversations about queer lit, supported one another’s accounts through mentions and story posts, and engaged in “read-a-thons.” Being a part of this community has been so much fun, and it has given me so much joy to be in conversation with a diverse queer community who love and dedicate themselves to queer stories. Bookstagram has also married my two areas of study and interest: gender studies and creative writing. It has given me a public platform where I can discuss and support queer narratives, and it has encouraged me to be as open and unapologetic about my own queerness in physical public spaces. Have you had any funny moments or made any interesting connections in these spaces?
I was pleasantly surprised by how immediately warm and welcoming all the other bookstagrammers were of my account. I received several mentions and comments, especially from queer accounts, welcoming me to bookstagram and saying how cool it is to have more queer and non-binary bookstagrammers. Stefan Levchenko, 19, He/Him Do you have a digital space in which you are most comfortable being queer? The digital platform where I feel most comfortable being queer is definitely Instagram. It’s the most youthful platform that inspires me to create a sort of glossy cover of who I am. Seeing what other queer people post on Instagram makes me want to stay inventive and entertaining for my audience—however small it may be. I feel like Facebook is a little bit outdated and is excessively used by my relatives. Even if they know about my sexuality, I feel uncomfortable showing my flamboyant side there. I posted some pictures in drag on Instagram, and God, so many people loved them. I then came out to my mother and other relatives step-by-step by gradually posting pictures in drag. The level of approval only inspired me to show more of my queer side on Instagram. Have you had any funny moments or made any interesting connections in these spaces? It was a rainy day in Istanbul, and I was really pissed at everything in the world. I opened Tinder, and I found a drag performer named Salomé. She said that they were having a drag ball tomorrow and that I should come to cheer myself up. So, I went, met all these amazing queens, and wrote a post about them on my Instagram. We followed each other, and now I’m finishing up edits of my documentary on their lives. Sometimes, the internet can be a blessing.
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