By Casey Clark
The Golden Rule – treating others the way you want to be treated – has been ingrained into many of our minds since early childhood. Now, YouTube content creator and LGBTQ+ activist Miles McKenna is taking over social media by spreading positivity and kindness to his audience and beyond.
McKenna’s rise to stardom started with a video of him dyeing his leg hair purple which has been viewed over 3.6 million times. Following that video, McKenna gained over 1 million subscribers and attained a dedicated fan base. McKenna has been very open with his audience about his negative coming out experience to his own parents and explaining how that led him to move out of his house. McKenna shared that he did not have stable living conditions for a few years and was living in his car. Eventually, he was contacted by fellow YouTube creators Ally Hills and Stevie Boebi who offered their home to him.
McKenna often cites this story of two people who did not even know him at the time offering a helping hand as an example of how there are people in this world who do care and will help you when it seems like nobody else will.
A majority of McKenna’s videos offer advice to LGBTQ+ youth about coming out, being comfortable in their own skin, treating others with kindness and understanding that with time, things will get better. McKenna’s videos are usually infused with some type of comedy, whether it be pouring broccoli on himself while giving coming out advice, trying on Croc high heels or making rainbow pancakes.
In collaboration with Fullscreen, a global network that offers creative tools and services to YouTube content creators to help them build their brands and audience, McKenna has created a series called “Hella Gay.” The series takes the audience on a journey to meet inspiring members of the LGBTQ+ community and discusses what these people are doing to help inspire others and live their best lives, whether it be just living authentically or working as a policymaker in the government to promote LGBTQ+ rights. McKenna also ventures on exciting activities in the series such as doing drag and playing basketball. Season 1 of “Hella Gay” was so successful that it got picked up for a second season which is currently airing on the Fullscreen app and website.
McKenna also toured around the country on his headlining tour where he was able to interact with his fans and bring his videos to life on the stage. McKenna is currently back on the road with the “Love is Love” tour featuring Rebecca Black and Shannon Beveridge where they meet fans, tell stories and dance.
