11 Badass Teens You Should Be Following for the Best Pride Inspo
This month, Instagram and GLAAD are teaming up to celebrate Pride in the most uplifting way possible: highly compelling images of what it means to be queer today. Using the hashtag #PridePortraits, users are encouraged to share visual stories about love, family, and what makes the LGBTQ community on Instagram proud. The results are already seriously stunning, but it's just getting started, so adding your own is major must.
This isn't the first showing of major pride to take Instagram by storm. According to their data, users in New Hampshire, Oregon, Connecticut, Arizona, California, Vermont, Washington, Florida, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. are the most likely to share displays of Pride on Instagram with hashtags and Pride-related.
Instagram1/13If your state is missing from the list, have no fear: we've rounded up some of our favorite LGBTQ Instagram users for some major inspiration to get out there show your pride.
Instagram3/13Brendan Jordan
Brendan Jordan is a gender-fluid teenager from Las Vegas who is comfortable with both male and female pronouns. According to Brendan, “I can’t really label it, because, you know, some days, my more feminine side comes out — the ‘she.’ Some other days I don’t feel like putting on my fabulous mask, and the ‘he’ comes out, and I’m totally OK with that.” Brendan's Instagram is full of makeup and outfit looks, Lady Gaga photos, and photos of his daily life.
Instagram4/13Michael Tatalovich
18-year-old Michael Tatalovich was diagnosed with cancer and decided to share his journey to recovery through provocative, stark and inspiring photos on Instagram. He says: “Yes, I am gay. Yes, I am a cancer survivor. Yes, I like science. But I am none of those things individually. I am a human, hurdling through space and time at the same rate as all of the other beings on this planet are.”
Instagram6/13Leo Sheng
Leo Sheng is a 19-year-old transgender man who used Instagram to share with the public his journey to becoming his authentic, realized self. By chronicling his transition, Sheng vulnerably and bravely opened himself up to the Instagram community in an incredible display of what it means to be transgender.
Instagram7/13Michael Brain
Michael Brain is a gay teenager whose mom is Indonesian and dad is Canadian. He spent many years in the Middle East and Asia, where many LGBTQ youth are deprived of basic rights. Mikey posts on his Instagram about his own pride and issues that are important to him, whether about sexuality or race.
Instagram8/13Spenser Clark
Spenser Clark is an openly gay batboy for the Washington Nationals who recently graduated from Howard University. He documents the experiences of being a batboy on his Instagram.
Instagram9/13Drew Gordon
Drew Gordon is a gay teenager and the son of a pastor. He shares his favorite makeup looks on his Instagram — for example, this Good Friday makeup look.
Instagram10/13Corey Maison
Corey Maison is a 14-year-old trans girl who aspires to be a supermodel. Her Instagram is full of behind-the-scenes photos from photoshoots, scenes from her daily life, and modeling images. One particularly compelling image she shared is a photo of herself with the text overlay “You think I belong in the men's bathroom?” in response to North Carolina's HB2 law.
Instagram11/13James Butler
James Butler is a gay dancer and model. His Instagram is full of self-love and motivational posts.
Instagram12/13Spencer Claus
Spencer Claus is a gay, genderfluid make-up artist who uses his Instagram tutorials to show all people — regardless of gender — that makeup is for them and can make them feel beautiful.
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