I just know people have really, really low expectations of me and that’s what the Internet does.
I’m such an easy person to target. Young, good-looking, white, gay men — we love to hate those people. But there’s been a real person there the whole time.
I’m not very good at crafting the public image version of me. I’m just not. I’m too messy of a person, and I care too much about being able to be a real dimensional human being.
[I’m not] a well-oiled machine. I still am just a regular person operating in the same world as everyone else. I’m not rich and famous. And I think there’s a weird disconnect that, when someone has any degree of fame on social media or whatever, we discount them as being a real, complicated human being.
I feel like I have always fought for myself to be seen as a complex, nuanced human being, to the point where I would rather not have lots of success and notoriety if it means that I can’t let all the messy edges of me show.”
— Out musician Steve Grand, talking to PrideSource about the pitfalls of his All-American Boy image, his often shirtless and Speedo-clad social media presence, and his budding music career
