10 LGBT+ YouTubers to Watch this Pride Month

Happy Pride! As most of you are probably aware, June is celebrated as LGBT+ Pride Month all around the world, giving those of us in the LGBT+ community an opportunity to celebrate our identity (and giving companies an opportunity to slap a rainbow on their logo and earn some of that sweet, sweet pink money). Like many of us who are living in countries dramatically impacted by the COVID pandemic (i.e. pretty much everywhere), I am spending Pride 2021 cooped up in my home and consuming queer media in an attempt to make up for the lack of real-life events happening near me. This just so happens to be how I have spent almost every single pride since I came out, but I would rather blame it on COVID this year.

But if I can't experience queer community in real life right now, I can still do so through the internet. I have mentioned in a few past posts that I love watching YouTube, with many of my favourite creators being LGBT+. I thought that this month would be the perfect time to draw attention to some of these creators through one of my favourite mediums: a list.

This is by no means an exhaustive list (obviously there are more than 10 LGBT+ people on YouTube...), but these are ten of my absolute favourites - the kind I actually turn notifications on for because I'm genuinely excited when they put out a new video. That's right, I actually clicked the bell button for these people. 

I have done my best to research these YouTubers and make sure I've got their labels and pronouns right, but please do let me know in the comments if I have made a mistake and I will fix it ASAP. In some cases I have just not mentioned their specific identities, because while I know that all of the people on this list identify with the LGBT+ community, I am not sure which letter in specific they fall under. With all that out of the way, let's move on to the YouTubers!

Kat Blaque 

Kat Blaque is one of my all-time favourite YouTubers and probably the YouTuber I have followed most consistently for the longest period of time. While the content and style of her channel has evolved over the years, her honesty and charisma mean that she can make just about any topic interesting. Right now she runs a weekly True Tea podcast where she gives her opinions on a variety of subjects, from pop culture to social issues. She also speaks from her own experience as a Black trans woman, as well as someone who is involved in the BDSM, polyamorous, and goth communities of Los Angeles. Her perspective is always interesting and her sincerity is refreshing.

Tara Mooknee

Like Kat Blaque, I mentioned Tara Mooknee in one of my previous YouTube-related posts: 5 Video Essays I Love. That post mentioned Mooknee's video "The Rise of the Pick Me Girl Meme", which has over one million well-deserved views and which I would still highly recommend. That video is far from the only worthwhile video on the channel, though. Mooknee, a bisexual woman, primarily makes videos responding to things - "things" such as email chain messages, anti-lockdown propaganda, and cows in pop culture. Whatever the subject, Mooknee always manages to make her videos entertaining and absurdly funny while also breaking down the more serious aspects of her topics in an intelligent and insightful way. She also has an amazing fashion sense and an adorable dog named Siggy, so there's no reason not to watch her really.

Khadija Mbowe

Another YouTuber I've only recently started watch but love so far, Khadija Mbowe makes video essays about social issues and media. Their videos are consistently well-structured, researched, and presented, making them a pleasure to watch even when they go in-depth with serious topics. It's sort of hard to believe that they're actually a professional opera singer and not a full-time video essayist, but I suppose some people are just that multitalented! 

CopsHateMoe

CopsHateMoe is a non-binary YouTuber that I can't quite believe is only 19 years old, given how thoughtful and mature their video content is. They are somewhat involved in leftist spaces on social media, and they have previously been critical of those in leftist and LGBT+ spaces who perpetuate harmful behaviours, such as Xanderhal's ableism and Blaire White's take on pretty much everything. They recently became quite well known for their takes on the Kalvin Garrah situation, which has been a big topic among LGBT+ YouTubers of late. Their videos might have less appeal if you don't follow many creators in these spaces and thus have no idea what I'm on about, but if you do understand and haven't yet watched Moe's channel, I highly recommend that you do.

Jessie Gender

Like many of the other creators on this list, Jessie Gender makes commentary and video essays (my tastes are quite particular, as you can probably tell). Her videos tend to focus on geek culture seen through a socially critical lens. Many of these focus on Star Trek (Jessie Gender being a huge Trekkie), but she has covered others forms of media as well, from Marvel to Harry Potter. She often analyses these from her own position as a queer, trans, autistic woman, providing a much-needed perspective in geek fandom. 

MacDoesIt

If you're keen to watch more LGBT+ content but are more interested in watching funny videos than deep-diving video essays, MacDoesIt might be the channel for you. He describes himself as 'a satirical comedic vlogger who creates content that is a cross between “Intelligently funny” an “an organized hot mess.”' You might be familiar with his reaction videos, like his hilarious "Reacting to Anti-Gay Commercials Series". His style is energetic and sometimes chaotic, but in my opinion it's always funny (and judging by the 16 million views on his first anti-gay reaction video, I'm not the only one who thinks so).

Jessica Kellgren-Fozard

Another YouTuber who doesn't focus primarily on video essays, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard is a Deaf, lesbian YouTuber and vintage fashion icon. Her videos are fun and cheerful, including family vlogs (made with her wife, dogs, and newborn baby), vintage style tutorials, LGBT+ history lessons, discussions about disabled and queer identity, and more. Her style is impeccable and her attitude is contagiously upbeat. Fun fact: I actually learnt how to use foam hair rollers from her tutorial videos.

Philosophy Tube

Full disclosure: I didn't actually start watching Philosophy Tube until Abigail Thorn's relatively recent video where she came out as transgender: 'Identity: A Trans Coming Out Story'. That video was so mindblowingly good that I felt compelled to consume more of her work. So far, I have only become more impressed. Focusing primarily on issues of philosophy, as her channel name would imply, Philosophy Tube's videos tend to be highly-produced, aesthetically theatrical videos that are as thought-provoking as they are visually stimulating. I was particularly amazed by her recent video 'Ignorance & Censorship', which more or less made me reconsider my whole life.

Finnjamin Fox

Although his is one of the smaller channels on this list, Finnjamin Fox is definitely worth checking out. He makes sensitive, thoughtful videos about trans issues and his own experience as a trans, bisexual man. Like Tara Mooknee, he also has a very cute dog. The sense of calm and nuance that he brings to his videos makes them especially nice to watch. He always seems to approach his topics with compassion, which I find very admirable.

Samantha Lux

For the final YouTuber on this list, I would like to recommend Samantha Lux. She is a trans woman who creates videos where she reacts to current events and media from a trans perspective, as well as sharing her own experience transitioning. Her videos are well-researched and structured, even though they feel quite informal and fun too. I admire how well she balances humour and positivity with justified criticism of the often-transphobic behaviour she reacts to, and it makes her videos a joy to watch,

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That's all for now! I could have gone on much longer with this list, but I decided that ten was a good number to stop at. I would be very happy to do a part two if that's something people would be interested in, though. My lists are obviously going to focus primarily on channels which appeal to my own specific tastes, so I would love to hear recommendations from other YouTube-viewers on the LGBT+ channels they enjoy. Please feel free to comment if you have any other suggestions of LGBT+ creators to watch this Pride!

My Favourite Bookish YouTubers

Good morning/afternoon/evening, gentle readers! I hope that this post finds you all well. 

While some of you might be expecting, based on my last post, for this blog instalment to focus on the From and About Asia reading project, you might have guessed from the title that this is not actually the case. If so, you would be correct. Today's post is on a different topic, since I haven't actually finished any of my books for the reading project yet. Instead, we're going to be looking at a different side of internet-related bookishness: booktube. 

For those who haven't heard the term before, "booktube" refers to the side of YouTube where people talk about books. I am interpreting this word quite broadly here and not limiting it just to those who describe themselves as "booktubers". Rather, I am including YouTubers who frequently talk about books, even if that is not necessarily the primary or sole focus of their channel. 

Booktube is something I only got into in the last few years or so. Considering that popular booktubers such as Rosianna Halse Rojas and booksandquills's Sanne have been uploading book-related content for over a decade, I am a relative newcomer to the scene. I think for some years I was put off because booktube seemed dominated by videos about YA books, a genre which I don't read much of. However, this is not really the case, as booktubers make videos about a wide variety of books, from fiction to non-fiction, from YA to literary novels. After becoming aware of this, I was introduced to dozens of booktubers who were not only fun and informative to watch, but who also focused on books which were actually of interest to me.

In this post, I'd like to share some of my favourite booktubers (or, more broadly, bookish YouTubers). They range from lesbian fiction reviewers to rapper-historians who also recommend books, but what they all have in common is that I have watched and enjoyed all of them - and found out about some good books along the way.

(Also a quick note on pronouns and gender: for all of the people mentioned on this list, I have attempted to find out their pronouns. I will obviously use the correct pronouns for those who have specified them in any of the sources I can find, but for the others I will be using they/them. If anyone notices that I have been using the incorrect pronouns, please do let me know and I will change them ASAP!)

The Bookish Land

The first YouTuber I wanted to talk about is one I have mentioned before, as both my favourite booktuber and the creator of the From and About Asia Project: The Bookish Land. I believe that this is the name of their channel and the creator actually goes by Meonicorn online, although I am happy to be corrected on this if anyone knows for sure! Anyway, their channel is a full "booktube" one, as it focuses almost entirely on books. They review books, recommend books, make videos about their TBRs, and even do vlogs where they visit bookshops all around the world. There are two things that I especially like about their videos: they always have international, diverse reading choices, and they always give well thought-out, insightful opinions. They seem to approach their reading and reviewing with a sensitivity and compassion that I greatly admire.

 

Jess Owens

The second YouTuber I'm excited to mention is someone who I only discovered recently, in comparison to the others on this list, but I have been enjoying their videos so much that I had to include them: Jess Owens. While Jess Owens does make a variety of bookish videos, including reviews and reading wrap-ups, what I would most like to draw attention to is their Book CommuniTEA series, where they break down all the latest drama in the bookish community. I think this series is brilliant because it perfectly fills a niche and I haven't seen anyone else of YouTube make videos about book drama quite as well as Jess Owens does. They do a great job of digging through complex social media drama (where most of these things take place, naturally) and presenting it in a digestible way. Their Book CommuniTEA series is clearly well-researched and provides a mostly-neutral perspective on recent events, although I also appreciate when Jess Owens offers their own opinions as well. Jess Owens's videos are smart, thought-provoking, and present controversial topics in a way that is balanced and compassionate. On top of all this, they also have an absolutely adorable dog named Nigel, who features in their videos! 

Akala

While Akala is perhaps not a booktuber in the strictest sense of the term - being a writer and hip hop artist primarily - he is still someone whose thoughts on books I value very highly. His series Akala's Great Reads shows him going into detail about the books he considers to be important or influential, ranging from non-fiction works like A Dying Colonialism to sci-fi novels like Dune. Each video is short, only a couple of minutes long, and focuses on a single book. For every book, he introduces it, gives a short explanation of its topic, and then explains why he believes it's worth reading. While I don't necessarily agree with Akala on every book he recommends (the same being true for every booktuber, I suppose), his reasoning behind each suggestion is always profound and grounded in how the books affected him personally. Even for books I absolutely do not enjoy, like Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, hearing Akala praise them has made me reconsider the books and whether they might have value which I didn't initially see. It probably helps that, in my opinion, Akala is one of the greatest public intellectuals around at the moment, and he is a talented author in his own right (I highly recommend his non-fiction book Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, and his new novel The Dark Lady is coming out soon). He also posts spoken excerpts of Natives on his YouTube channel, alongside his music, behind the scenes conversations, and short lectures expressing his thoughts on a variety of topics. 

Danika Leigh Ellis

Danika Leigh Ellis, Book Riot contributor and creator of the wonderful Lesbrary website, has been posting about queer women's literature online for longer than I have been out. She is, in my mind, one of the biggest icons of WLW book reviews on the internet. While the Lesbrary focuses exclusively on LGBT+ books (primarily of the bisexual and lesbian variety), Danika Leigh Ellis's YouTube channel is somewhat broader. Her videos are often on queer books, but sometimes they are on non-LGBT books too. I have so much respect for Danika Leigh Ellis for bringing queer women's books to wider recognition and for carving out a section of the internet by and for people like us. Back when I was a baby gay and first beginning to look for queer books, I remember coming across the Lesbrary and Danika Leigh Ellis and feeling like I'd found the holy grail of queer women's literature. They continue to review and promote bi and lesbian books now on both their own YouTube channel and Book Riot's, and I really appreciate how they show the true breadth of gay women's literature - it's not all tragic, Well of Loneliness-type novels! If you are interested in books by and about queer women, you need to check out Danika Leigh Ellis's work. 

A Sunny Book Nook

Speaking of people who talk a lot about sapphic books, I think it's time to introduce you to the fifth booktuber of the post: A Sunny Book Nook. First of all, how cute is that channel name? It's so catchy and makes me happy just saying it. The brains behind this channel is in fact a creator called Sunny, who makes book videos including (but not limited to) those about queer women and non-binary people! I love that she recommends a diverse range of books, from graphic novels to political polemics. Politics-wise, Sunny is quite openly a leftist and often analyses books through a socialist and anti-capitalist lens. On top of all this, they are also amazing at makeup and sometimes create looks based on book covers. Just look at her makeup in this Instagram post! If you want a YouTube channel that is intellectually, aesthetically, and bookishly stimulating, look no further than A Sunny Book Nook.

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With that, dear readers, we have reached the end of this list. I hope that you enjoyed reading about my favourite booktubers (or bookish YouTubers) and perhaps found a new channel to explore - or perhaps you already knew of these amazing creators, in which case I must say you have excellent taste. 

Please feel free to let me know if there are any particular bookish YouTube people that you would recommend, as I'd love to watch some more. Also, please tell me if you enjoyed this post and/or would like to hear about more YouTube creators I like, because I definitely have more that I haven't mentioned here! I'd be happy to do a part two to this post if that's something people would be interested in. 

In the meantime, happy reading and happy watching!

5 Video Essays I Love

Hello and welcome back to another weekly Wednesday post, which I completely forgot I was meant to post until literally a few hours ago (for reference, it's almost 6pm on the day this post is meant to go up). After spending those first few hours panicking about what on earth I could possibly write a post about at such short notice, I finally hit upon a topic: video essays.

I watch quite a bit of YouTube (probably more than is entirely healthy), with my absolute favourite type of video to watch being video essays. These are usually long, persuasive videos that combine facts and analysis. If that definition seems a little vague, that's because video essays are a medium that has only gained popularity relatively recently, so there doesn't seem to be one single definition everyone can agree on. All that is to say that my definition is the one I'm working with here and if you think I'm wrong about my categorisation of any of the videos below, feel free to argue with me in the comments.

Now, let's move on to the videos. Here are five video essays which I have found especially excellent and memorable, in no particular order:

The Bell Curve - Shaun

I have a special place in my heart that is reserved for hating IQ tests. I hated them before watching this video, and I hated them even more afterwards. Besides IQ tests generally being eugenicist, elitist nonsense, this video specifically addresses an infamous book called The Bell Curve, which has been accused of advocating for judging people's intelligence based on race (an entirely racist and unfounded concept, just for the record), with IQ tests as their supposed evidence for the idea's validity.

The Rebranding of White Nationalism - Kat Blaque (currently unavailable)

Kat Blaque is my all-time favourite YouTuber, who I have followed for about 6 or 7 years now. During that time she has produced a range of content, varying from unscripted True Tea videos to video essays like The Rebranding of White Nationalism. I hesitated to include this video on the list, since it has seemingly been privated for the time being. However, it was such an informative and important video that I wanted to mention it anyway. If Kat Blaque reuploads the video on YouTube or elsewhere, I will edit this post to include a new link. In the meantime, I would also recommend watching the second part of her video essay series: The History of Monetization, Demonetization and How it Changed Youtube.

The Rise of the Pick Me Girl Meme - Tara Mooknee

Tara Mooknee (pronounced moo-nee) is a YouTube I've only discovered recently, but she's quickly becoming one of my favourites. Her videos are a great combination of informative, persuasive, and funny, and her Pick Me video is a great example of this. Whether you've already had the misfortune of encountering pick-me's or if you have no idea what I'm talking about, her video is worth watching. It explains what pick me girls are, the forms they take, and how we should deal with them. It's also just a very witty video.

Shame - Contrapoints

Ah, the queen of video essays herself. While Natalie Wynn, who runs the Contrapoints channel, has done so many amazing video essays that you could probably just pick one at random and it would be worth the watch, my favourite so far has been Shame. Wynn made this video partially to come out as a lesbian, but there's also a lot more to it than that. She goes into her own story of discovering her sexuality, compulsory heterosexuality, and the shame that internalised homophobia can bring to even those of us who are usually so proud of our identity. Some parts were so relatable that I had to pause the video for a second just to take in the impact of what she was saying. If you're also queer (especially a queer woman), then I think there is also a lot in this video that you might relate to. 

The Political Implications of Talking Dog Movies - Jack Saint

I know, I know. The title of this video probably makes it seem like some satire of over-analytical film studies essays, but I can assure you it's actually 100% serious. Okay, maybe not 100% because there is definitely humour in the video. Still, the topic is a genuine one! I'm always fascinated by the messages of children's movies, even more so by those that are seemingly unintentional. Jack Saint does a great job of breaking down these deliberate and accidental implications in films with talking animals, some of which take a surprisingly dark turn. 

That's all I have for you this week! If you enjoyed this post, let me know and I can see about doing something similar again in the future. I'd also love to know if you have any video essays to recommend, because I'm always looking for more - the longer and more analytical, the better. Please feel to let me know either through the comments or through contacting me directly, as always.