Celebrations and rainbow flags broke out after the Supreme Court ruled that marriage equality is the law of the land.
But for many years leading up to that decision, thousands of people took to YouTube and social media to come out as gay and trans, to show their support as allies, and to work at making change happen. With each step, things got better.
Here are just a few that you might remember from along the way.
As a straight ally who works in social media, I’ve seen about half of these. They touch me to my core to this day — partly because of the courage it took for these people to make these clips and partly because of the raw emotion they express.
So sit back and remember the road we walked — together — to make this happen.
There’s Ingrid Nilsen, Connor Franta, Troye Sivan, and Janet Mock.
All images via YouTube.
There are even more celebrities (and some who became famous soon after).
There’s Laverne Cox, Ellen Page, Ellen DeGeneres, and Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and straight ally from Iowa who got 30 bazillion hits for his speech in front of his state’s legislature.
There are even members of the military.
Remember this soldier and the heartwarming reaction he got from his dad?
All of these people added up to one beautiful movement that made this happen.
Thanks, everybody, for what you do every day to help make things better for everybody.
