Yes. It happened. During the queerantine, I fell down the TikTok rabbit hole. And, yes, I know the platform is terribly problematic. But, with news and fashion media’s reliance on social media to reach audiences, we find ourselves still signed-in to Facebook – known for allowing fake news and violent content while censoring queer folks; data breaches; and even conducting psychological experiments on us without an ethical consent process – just so we can simply invite our readers to events or share important articles. And, I guess building a platform of queer visibility on Instagram has our hands dirty now, because Facebook has also acquired Instagram. So, basically, all social media is problematic. But, queer folks have been leveraging it for good, becoming the creative directors of their own lives and building visibility that mainstream media would never allow us to have.
So, now that we have done our queer disclaimer due diligence, you’re probably wondering, what the heck is TikTok? Isn’t it just a bunch of young kids lip-syncing and dancing in 15-60 second videos? I mean, I’m old enough to have perfected beginners-level HTML coding on MySpace when my friends all asked me to switch to Facebook and I had the same question: What the heck is Facebook? Isn’t it just one long scroll of people sharing their opinions nobody asked for? And, here I find myself. On Facebook. On Instagram. On Twitter. And, now on TikTok, a video platform which offers more than lip-syncing and dancing, as entertaining as that may be. Before I began sheltering at home on March 10, 2020, my passion was traveling. TikTok was a great platform for me to find stunning travel locations that Instagram influencers had not yet overrun, and also beautifully capture my travel on video using TikTok’s easy editing tools. Now that I am in quarantine, I find myself escaping into the world of great interior decor, easy recipes, and the hilarious world of Black comedic content creators. Instagram still seems to be the reigning Qween of queer fashion lewks. The hashtags #queerfashion and #queerstyle on TikTok are not as populated as they are on Instagram. However, I was able to find a handful of users with some fierce queer style game.
1.brittenelle
@brittenelleWill be ur plus 1 ##suit ##tux ##helpimquarantinedalone ##jamesbon
2. thestreetsensei
@thestreetsensei How to loosen up buttons like a 🤠##fyp ##foryoupage ##foryou ##lgbtq ##gay ##lesbian ##cowboyshit ##tiktokmyanmar ##qurantinebirthday ##taurusgang ##happyathome
3. dr__handsome
@dr__handsome Big Bois Winning ##bodypositive ##fyp ##style ##foryourpage ##fashion ##ftm ##queer ##trans ##lgbtq ##quarantine ##menofsize ##blackmen @blackpyramidofficial_
4. bidaddies
@bidaddies wish we were actually going somewhere in these suits but OoOp! ##selfisolating ! ##covid19 ##lesbiancouple ##lgbt ##lgbtq ##lesbian ##foryou ##foryoupage ##fyp
5. madspaigemusic
@madspaigemusic Man of many hats ##nonbinary ##tiktokdiy ##outfitchange ##outfitchangechallenge ##boredathome ##foryou ##fyp ##lesbian ##lgbtq ##queer ##genderfluid ##queerstyle
6. psychodaddi
@psychodaddi For the women out there! ##fyp ##foryoupage ##lesbian ##gay ##lgbt ##foryourpage ##trending ##viral ##thirsttrap ##MoodBoost ##MySkinandME ##xyzbca ##mealprep
7. praythegreyaway
@praythegreyaway Figured ##nonbinary folk need an audio too. Feel free to duet! ##fyp ##foryou ##comedy ##lgbt ##trans ##queer ##agender ##genderfluid ##binderboy ##challenge
8. djouliet
@djouliet wigglin! ##gaygirls ##musiclives ##lgbt ##queer ##dancer ##fyp ##foryou ##canadiantuxedo
♬ Mac Demarco – Freaking Out the Neighborhood – gogogabriella
9. brooklynthecreator
@brooklynthecreator
10. thisbliss
@thisbliss Own it. @iamdavante ##fyp ##foryoupage ##plussize ##plussizefashion ##bodypositivity ##bodyconfidence ##bbw ##lesbian ##lgbt 🌈
11. iameverettwilliams
@iameverettwilliams We all win let’s be honest ##foryou ##mensstyle ##fashion ##myoutfit ##tiktokfashion ##fyp ##nickiminaj
