Coming out for my life means never keeping my truth a secret. I don’t want to use my masculine presentation and male privilege to hide in plain sight. Instead of blending in, I strive to express my queer identity through what I wear, often accessorizing with something cute and pink or wearing something blatantly gay. That’s part of my ethos as a fashion designer. Through MASSIVE GOODS, I help bring gay erotic art out of the closet and into the daylight on bodies everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with same sex desire and I want to live that conviction wherever I go.

In a more literal sense, my first coming out was on the blog platform LiveJournal at the age of 15. I’m part of the first generation whose sexualities and gender identities have almost always been mediated by the Internet. The generation younger than me has never not been living their lives on social media. I want to encourage the youth to use this technology to seek out like-minded communities, find real world safe spaces, but not to get comfortable in a bubble of acceptance. As good as things may get for you, there will always be someone else struggling every day to live their truth. Seek out and challenge injustice in all of its forms, and use your time on this planet to help others.