Follow Me

Trend-setting go-getters who are paving the way for other LGBTQ+ content creators to in uence social media, thus in uencing how America and the world thinks.

BY NILE FORTNER

Social media content creators and influencers are a part of the daily media diet of swiping, scrolling and double tapping for many teens and adults. Some see them as modern role models and entrepreneurs who have the potential to play an important role in the identity of their many viewers, followers, fans, and subscribers. The digital world works as a window into the lives of others and even places that were once unknown and cut o from the average person’s experience and knowledge. But in the age of hashtags, one of the most bene cial contributions of social media has been its impact on marginalized groups; speci cally, the LGBTQ+ community.

“I realized there was a community of men just like me,” said social media content creator, Timothy Cappelli. “My postings on Instagram really just helped me be me and that has helped others.”

Timothy Cappelli started on Instagram sharing fitness-related content. Before his Instagram days, Cappelli was dating someone who believed that Cappelli shouldn’t pursue social media.

“He said there was no way you could grow an account,” said Cappelli. “And I found a community that responded.”

Hashtag Follow Tim

Coming from a blue-collar town in Pittsburgh, the now 38-year-old has over 162K and counting on Instagram. Sharing fitness motivation, baking, nature, and his home life, Cappelli originally began his Instagram prole in the pursuit of finding self-confidence.

“I never felt comfortable in the gym,” said Cappelli. “My reason was growing up I was surrounded by a lot of meatheads that didn’t make me feel comfortable. In helping me be me, I was inspiring other guys to feel comfortable and hopefully, feel themselves and that account grew.”

The LGBTQ+ community was an early adopter of the internet for a wide variety of reasons but one of the big ones is because the community is smaller and it’s harder to find information and entertainment that is representative of the culture and needs.

“With growing that account, I helped to grow a safe space for people,” said Cappelli. “Where people can feel free to be them[selves] with me. It then opened my eyes to posting more like my baking, gardening, and traveling.”

Homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until the 1980s, but even after the

“In helping me be me, I was inspiring other guys to feel comfortable and hopefully, feel themselves and that account grew.”

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) reversed the claim, people who identified as part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum stayed secluded. Finding a community wasn’t easy as fear of discrimination and hate crimes was still very common. However, group meetings in secret and organizations providing safe spaces allowed for LGBTQ-identified people to gather and create a safe space for a community. With the rise of social media, the LGBTQ+ community was able to find different ways to use this as an outlet.

With the power of social media, Cappelli has created a safe space, with one of his goals being to share more travel-related content. Travel and tourist destinations that reach a demographic of gays that are uncertain of locations that may be LGBTQ-friendly.

“That’s how it was for me when it came to fitness,” said Cappelli. “I was uncertain what I was walking into. Traveling to certain places and wondering if you can take your shirt o and feel like you’re in your own backyard. It’s opportunities that have come full circle. My Instagram is a place where people can come and it’s a no-judgment zone.”

One of those locations is Axel Hotel, a South Beach hotel with a focus on the LGBTQ+ community. The largest LGBTQ+ hotel chain in the world now has a location in Miami, Florida with sophisticated, luxurious, and calming rooms with nods to Art Deco. Axel also has a lively gay bar with a colorful dance floor, gym, hammam, beach house, and swimming pool on the hotel grounds.

Cappelli, the 2020 award-winning Gay Travel Award content creator, attended Axel’s Influencer Takeover, an event from July 2023.

“I struggle with the term influencer,” said Cappelli. “I don’t look at Instagram as a fulltime thing like some other people do. But being in Miami and helping to support an environment was nice, and it made me realize there are a lot of great influencers out there.”

People usually hate the term “influencer” – and it’s understandable. People don’t want to feel like they’re being swayed by something or someone other than their own thoughts. Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge, entertainment, and expertise on a specific topic. They regularly create content about a niche interest and continuously post about that topic online.

Creating content and trying to curate entertaining media that sometimes features experiences, products, and services. With consistency and high-quality content comes a large following of engaged people who pay close attention to their views.

This distinction is doubly important when talking about influencers from marginalized groups.

Before the rise of social media, many media outlets didn’t provide representations of the LGBTQ+ community, if at all. As LGBTQ+ people understood the power of social media, the LGBTQ+ community had an understanding and purpose of a strong bond and community. They understand the importance of social media. These social media influencers and outlets show how people are dressing, where they’re going, and how they can interact.

Those who did not yet know how they could present themselves comfortably can now be exposed to a whole world of possibilities. They can connect, follow, be inspired, and even further push the boundaries of LGBTQ+ culture by sharing themselves. Social media is a powerful tool for the LGBTQ+ community; it has the power to bring a whole community together and provide influence.

Influencers play an important role in our community because they create, curate, and distribute information that not only upholds our community but builds our culture.

DID YOU KNOW?

“The number of social media users worldwide has swelled to a record 4.9 billion people globally. What’s more, this number is expected to jump to approximately 5.85 billion users by 2027.” – Forbes

“Sixty-four percent of LGBTQ+ social media users reported experiencing harassment and hate speech, a much higher rate than all other identity groups. Users on Facebook experienced the highest percentage of online harassment. About 75% of those who experienced online harassment reported at least some of that harassment occurred on Facebook. Smaller shares experienced harassment or hate on Twitter (24%), YouTube (21%), Instagram (24%) and TikTok (9%).” – NPR

“TikTok, for example, launched in September 2016, and by mid2018, it had already reached half a billion users. To put this in perspective: TikTok gained, on average, about 20 million new users per month over this period.” – Our World in Data

“Use of OnlyFans exploded during the pandemic, going from 7.5 million users last November to 85 million now. This growth was spurred by celebrities. It got a 15% bump in traffic after Beyoncé referred to it in her remix of Savage in June – and while extra attention brought in consumers, it also attracted thousands of content creators.” – The Guardian

Hashtag Follow Jaime and Katie

Working in the fitness industry for almost 20 years, Jaime Filer is on a mission to help anxious LGBTQ+ women boost their confidence through fitness. As a certified trainer, Filer uses her Instagram platform shared with her wife, Katie Filer, to inspire, frequently sharing personal tidbits from their lives.

“I started my first diet when I was eleven,” said Jaime. “And it regressed very rapidly to the point where I was hospitalized three times in my teenage years after officially being diagnosed with having anorexia.”

She’d go to the gym for two to three hours a day, Jaime was also skipping classes in high school and college in order to get to the gym.

“I was lying to my parents and my friends about what I was eating,” said Jaime. “I was working out at the Jewish Community Center, working out anywhere and everywhere I could.”

Beginning to see muscles and bones that not so long ago seemed buried, Jaime eventually felt empowered and strong. The now 36-year-old who’s originally from Toronto,

Ontario and now living in Florida, Jaime’s fitness became therapy, part of a balanced life.

“It was no longer about what I saw when I looked in the mirror,” said Jaime. “But rather how heavy are the weights that I was lifting. As I gained more confidence, I then thought to myself, ‘Why doesn’t everybody feel this way?’”

Starting her Instagram in 2012, Jaime now has over 120K Instagram Followers. Even meeting her alongside her equally badass wife, Katie, functional health coach, through Instagram.

“The algorithm worked its magic, and she was on a weight loss journey,” said Jaime. “I showed up on her Discover page and we started chatting and six years have gone by since then.”

“When I slid into her DMs back in 2017, I had to double message. I assumed she got tons of direct messages all the time, but I knew I needed to get her attention. Now, we use the platform not only to meet other like-minded people around the world, but to impact the LGBTQ community through our online health business.” added Katie.

With consistent posts and being authentic, Jaime and Katie have built a trusting community of physically and mentally healthy go-getters.

“Our followers get insight into our lives every day,” said Jaime. “Whether we’re having a day where we’re struggling with body image, or anxiety, or motivation, we let our followers know we’re struggling but will come out the other end okay.”

“We get messages all the time about how seeing what we eat, how we manage stress, and how we balance work and social life helps people in their own journey. Those messages make us so happy and keep us going.” added Katie.

Even though the dog-moms of two are here to help people who are struggling, social media can sometimes bring online critics seeking to provoke.

“We get messages all the time about how seeing what we eat, how we manage stress, and how we balance work and social life helps people in their own journey.”

“Two of the last couple of Reels we’ve posted have gone viral,” said Jaime. “And all we’ve done is take some of that vitriol and venom that’s been spewed at us because of the way we look or the fact that we’re in a lesbian relationship.”

She overlayed the negative comments over the video of her kissing Katie, working to reverse it back onto the internet trolls. However, Jaime has also received positive comments and she’s also written, ‘Get Out of Your Head and Into the Gym’, an e-book she wrote with Katie discussing the struggle and fear of going to the gym.

With their growing social media success, Jaime and Katie would one day like to run several retreats throughout the world and bring the LGBTQ+ community together with a focus on mental and physical health.

“I feel like we’ve picked the right platform for us,” said Jaime. “While we still do show up on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Threads, that’s not where the bread and butter of our attention goes. Either way, we’re thankful to engage and motivate.”

Hashtag Safe Space

“It’s such a different playground now,” said Cappelli. “Now there’s Only Fans, TikTok, and I was fortunate to start when I did and to be found by that community.”

Don’t just take his word for it, the researchers at GLSEN discovered that “Despite experiences of bullying and harassment online, LGBTQ youth indicated the Internet is also a space that offers safer opportunities to express who they are, find peer support and gain access to resources not necessarily available in person.”

With that in mind, Cappelli also creates content with his brother, Giuseppi Cappelli. After their father had a heart attack ten years ago, Timothy [Cappelli] moved back home after working in production in California. Giuseppi, who has Down Syndrome, was left alone.

“My dad even wrote songs about my brother,” said Timothy Cappelli. “They were inseparable. My dad was a television performer, and my brother’s world was over.”

Returning home, Timothy began making content with his brother and the Cappelli brothers became content creators together. Timothy would also like to see more content creators and influencers with special needs who can bring awareness, while also traveling, being foodies, and finding their social media niche.

“I love making content with my brother,” said Timothy Cappelli. “Whether it’s in-person or online, I’m a con dent guy who loves to love and I want to leave a positive imprint.”

Mega Stars to Follow

RICKEY THOMPSON

Coming out as gay in 2016, Rickey Thompson has found widespread success since being on Vine. Thompson, who also appeared on the cover of the Gay Times in 2019, is an accomplished performer, whether on the stage of a comedy club, on the set of a film, or on the runway of a fashion show.

With a strong sense of humor, Thompson has migrated over to Instagram often posting humorous videos – Videos that have led to Thompson having over six million followers on Instagram. Posting content about life, career, and interest has led to Thompson latest and most successful project. Starting from the small screens of cell phones, Thompson has now hit the big screen.

The internet personality hit the big screen with his film debut ‘Good Mourning’, starring Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox. ‘Good Mourning,’ which is directed by Kelly, may be Thompson’s big screen debut. However, he has also appeared in Donald Glover’s television series, ‘Swarm’.

BLAIR IMANI

LA Times Bestselling author, Black, queer, bisexual, and Muslim. Is there any category Blair Imani doesn’t make a grand statement in?

Helping readers navigate information and have an understanding on race, gender, sexual orientation, and more, her book ‘Read This to Get Smarter’, works as a way to help readers become more well informed on a variety of topics. All in order to reach genuine empathy and compassion as a modern person.

As an activist in Black Lives Matters advocacy, Imani is a forthright authority on race relations, feminist and queer studies, intersectionality, and American history. With informative yet perky and vibrant posts, Imani has gained 586,000 Followers on Instagram.

The purpose of “fighting the good fight” and spreading knowledge, has gained the attention of the younger generation. She continues educating people about progressive thinking and how history and culture a ect policies and events today.

PATTIE GONIA AKA WYN WILEY

Gonia is a queer drag queen environmentalist building a community for LGBTQ+ folks, allies, and the planet. Begun in 2018 with a drag show as the character “Ginger Snaps”, Wiley created the character, Pattie Gonia. Wiley’s activism content spread through TikTok and Instagram and what started as a fun drag costume on a hiking trail turned into a platform of over 570,000 followers on Instagram.

Bringing people together through environmentalism and discussing topics such as climate change, has led to Wiley co-founding a non-profit called “The Outdoorist Oath’. Wiley has also worked with The North Face for their 2022 ‘Summer of Pride’ series.

PHOTOS FROM TOP COURTESY OF: RICKEY THOMPSON, WYN WILEY, BLAIR IMANI