The best and worst social media moments of 2021

For a good chunk of 2021, it felt like for many of us, the internet was our only window to the outside world, and social media was one of the easiest ways to connect with others. Thankfully, we had plenty of significant LGBTQ2S+ moments online to keep us entertained, from coming outs to trollings and thirst traps. Xtra’s social media queens, a.k.a. Audience Engagement Editor Michelle da Silva and Community Coordinator Jordan Currie, look back on a very “online” year. Here are 10 times queer and trans people broke the internet in 2021.

1. Jojo Siwa coming out on TikTok and Instagram

Back in January, dancer and social media personality Jojo Siwa tweeted:“My cousin got me a new shirt” with a photo of herself wearing a shirt that read  “Best gay cousin ever.” Some fans weren’t sure if she was being serious or not, but a few months later, Siwa officially came out as pansexual and queer. “Performing has always made me super happy,” she said in an interview with People. “But for the first time, personally, I am like, whoa, happiness. I am so proud to be me.” Since then, Siwa has become the first contestant to dance with a same-sex partner on Dancing with the Stars and is on her way to becoming an LGBTQ2S+ icon for the youth in her own right.

2. Abigail Thorn of Philosophy Tube comes out as trans on YouTube 

YouTuber Abigail Thorn of the stylized and informative philosophy channel Philosophy Tube, which has over a million subscribers, started 2021 with a bang when she came out as a trans woman and dropped a nearly 40-minute video telling her story. As most Philosophy Tube videos are, her coming out video was full of high production value, flashy lighting, detailed narration and grand theatrics, including Thorn walking out to “Blackstar” by David Bowie. You can tell a huge wave of relief and catharsis washes over Thorn (and to be honest, anyone who watches the video), and it’s enough to make you teary-eyed.

3. The rise of Qwitter (Nigerian queer Twitter)

In Nigeria, where LGBTQ+ people continue to face violence, censorship and a lack of rights, queer and trans Nigerians flock to Qwitter—a portmanteau of queer and Twitter—to find community and to live their truth. This year, with the pandemic lockdown taking its toll and the shadow of the #EndSARS protests less than a year ago, the necessity of Qwitter has never been more apparent, as was documented by Xtra contributor January Ikeoluwa back in March. “Qwitter allows us to be at once invisible to detractors and visible to each other; it’s a platform where we can talk about our lived experiences and learn about others’ gender, sexuality and non-monogamous relationships,” Ikeoluwa wrote.

4. Lil NasX trolling Twitter

With all of the sadness, stupidity and unnecessary outrage dominating the internet this year (some things never change), one thing that brought us sheer joy was witnessing Lil Nas X take the piss out of Twitter, especially his detractors and homophobes clutching their pearls. Need a good laugh from the “Industry Baby” singer? There’s that time he revealed Shrek as his lover. Or when Montero apologized for the Satan shoe. Then, he ripped his pants while performing live on SNL—oops!—and ended the year bringing the drama to Maury. And to think that he still had time to release one of this year’s chart-smashing albums. 

5. People freaked out on Twitter about Phoebe Bridgers smashing her guitar on SNL 

You know that thing rockstars do, where they smash their guitars on stage at the end of a performance—something male musicians have been doing for decades? Well, some Twitter users had a lot to say about musician Phoebe Bridgers doing exactly that during her SNL performance on Feb. 6. Many seemed to think it was strange and exaggerated that Bridgers did this at the end of her song “I Know The End.” How baffling that a woman artist would choose to do this on live television, right? Luckily, Bridgers didn’t let it bother her, writing in a snarky Instagram caption: “Got some really great feedback from my performance! next time I’ll just burn it and it will be more expensive.”

6. NHL player Luke Prokop came out on Instagram 

Luke Prokop, a Nashville Predators prospect, made history this year when he came out as gay, making him the first openly gay player to come out while under contract with an NHL team. The Edmonton-born athlete posted on Instagram: “From a young age I have dreamed of being an NHL player, and I believe that living my authentic life will allow me to bring my whole self to the rink and improve my chances of fulfilling my dreams.” Prokop was supported by the Predators, saying in a statement that they were “proud” of him for his courage, as well as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who thanked Prokop for “sharing his truth and for being so brave.”

7. The bisexual Pride couch 

When IKEA Canada unveiled a series of LGBTQ2S+-themed couches they created just in time for Pride Month, no one expected that the Swedish furniture company’s take on a bisexual sofa would cause such a fuss. Designed by fashion designer Charlotte Carbone in collaboration with artist Brian Lanigan, the couch was covered in pink, blue and purple handprints—the colours of the bi flag—with the words “When you change OR to AND, nobody believes you” written across its cushions. Thus, a heap of memes were born, with some misreading the text on the couch as “When you change nobody OR to AND believes you” and others photoshopping it into various photos and situations, making it one of the most prominent memes on gay Twitter this year.

8. Elliot Page shares his first shirtless photo post-transition

Actor Elliot Page came out as trans near the end of 2020 and since then has opened up immensely about his transition, including in an intimate interview with Oprah; he also became the first openly trans man on the cover of Time magazine. In May, he posted his first shirtless selfie, lounging by the pool in a swimsuit. In the Instagram caption, he wrote, “Trans bb’s first swim trunks #transjoy #transisbeautiful.” The photo sparked conversations about trans body image, but it was also a beautiful reminder to celebrate trans joy, no matter where in your transition journey you may be at. 

9. “Brands marketing to queer people versus me and my queer friends” Twitter meme for Pride Month 

It’s impossible to sum up the amount of memes that came out of queer Twitter this year. But since memes are such a crucial part of the internet’s identity, we knew we had to include at least one on our list. Just before Pride Month, a new meme dropped: “Brands marketing to gays/me and my gay friends.” The format includes a photo of a person decked out in all rainbow attire, seemingly at a Pride event, followed by a photo of a more rugged or alternative queer asthetic, such as goths or lesbian carpenters wearing flannel, right next to it. Not only is it a hilarious and versatile meme, but it also highlights how shallow and one-note brands are when it comes to representing the many facets of LGBTQ2S+ communities, assuming that every queer person lives, breathes and eats kitshy rainbow designs all the time. (And if you do, no judgment—but let’s make some room for the emo gays too.)

10. Queer and trans folks fighting TikTok censorship

If you’re still not on TikTok, you might just be too old because it feels like everyone cool migrated over to the social media app famous for its bad recipe videos, dance challenges and short looping thirst traps. And while TikTok supplies hours of mindless fun, it’s still a social media app, which means it often isn’t safe, welcoming or fair to LGBTQ2S+ users and people from marginalized communities. More specifically, TikTok has been known to censor queer and trans content, including censoring LGBTQ2S+ hashtags in certain regions and flagging certain terms as “pornographic.” The platform has also deleted trans content creators and removed videos related to gender identity. Of course, TikTok denies all of this, but LGBTQ2S+ users have creatively fought back, and we’re here for it.