Over the past several years, audiences have watched YouTube celebrity Gigi Gorgeous transform from an unknown beauty guru into a household name in the Internet entertainment industry. Born Gregory Lazzarato, Gorgeous began her career online identifying as a cis-gendered male, however, in December of 2013, Gigi announced that she was a trans female. Since then, we have watched her physically transition on her YouTube channel and become an ambassador for trans individuals’ worldwide. By using the Internet as her platform, Gorgeous has helped invite the younger generation to the discussion and has aided in diversifying the LGBTQ community.
For those who have been following Gorgeous for a while now, you can probably remember her two big coming out videos: first as a gay man and then three years later as a trans female. Both fans and Gorgeous herself thought that she was done coming out, yet this past week Gigi dropped a major truth bomb. Although Gorgeous has been teasing her fans for the past few months about her sexuality, Gigi Gorgeous has come out of the closet (once again) to reveal that she now identifies as a lesbian.
In the video, Gorgeous explains how her relationship with socialite and fashion designer Nats Getty has completely changed her life and caused her to reconsider her sexual identity. In the past, Gorgeous has primarily engaged in heterosexual relationships while living as a trans female, most notably dating Corey Binney, the brother of RuPaul’s Drag Race star Alaska Thunderfuck 5000. However, despite her dating history, Gorgeous claims that from this moment forward she identifies as a lesbian. This announcement, while personal to Gigi’s experience represents far more than one person’s sexual transition, it opens up discussion about the importance of diversity within the trans community and education on gender identity as a whole.
Ten years ago, we did not have trans celebrities speaking up about gender and sexual identity like we do today. These past few years have been a critical time for the LGBTQ community because we have trans ambassadors such as Laverne Cox and Gigi Gorgeous educating the world about the trans community. Of course, our society is far from being perfect and the trans community still has a long way to go before reaching true equality, however, they are certainly on the right track . Videos such as Gigi’s are just one of the many ways that trans people are working to expand societies’ perception of what it means to identify as trans.
In making this video, Gigi Gorgeous has helped to enlighten her global audience about the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity. Although sexual orientation and gender identity are by no means interconnected, due to heteronormative attitudes many people assume that they are related to each other. This is because the majority of people in our society identify as cisgendered and straight, therefore it is hard for our culture to understand that a person’s gender and who they are attracted towards aren’t always connected.
We saw this same issue arise back in summer of 2015 when Caitlyn Jenner came out as trans. When Jenner came out to the public, many people asked her if she identified as a gay or straight woman. Jenner, although controversial in her views on gay marriage, was straight forward in telling everyone that she was still attracted to women and that transitioning had not changed her sexuality. Caitlyn helped to teach the world that gender and sexuality are not connected identities and Gigi is now reaching further to show that in addition, gender and sexuality can be fluid.
Once upon a time, Gigi identified as a gay man — yet over time she has come to realize that she identifies instead as a gay female, and it is important that we accept the way that she chooses to identify both in the past and today. People like Gigi Gorgeous help remind us that the trans community needs more representation, both in the media as well as in other industries and to show the world that what they know of the trans population makes up only a fraction of the diverse experiences of trans people as a whole.
So while Gigi’s coming out may have been intended to educate her fans about her own sexuality, she has by extension opened up the conversation about the difference between gender and sexuality, and of the importance of informing the public about diversity within the trans community. It is exciting that we are living at a time where understanding the foundations of gender and sexual identity are essential for daily interaction and we can hopefully all look forward to the day when no one will bat any eye over the way someone chooses to identify.
Photos Courtesy of Gigi Gorgeous’ Instagram
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