Even now, with so much LGBTQ representation on the big and small screens, certain types of queer people still go unseen. That’s why Col Connelly and Ari Garcia have spent their last few years documenting their lives together on social media.
Col and Ari — an engaged, non-binary, transgender lesbian couple in their mid-20s — have used their social media to share their passions — like traveling, selling “pre-loved” fashions, and decorating their new home. But their followers know that they’re not just sharing their hobbies, they’re also sharing intimate details of their own gender journeys, including their use of hormone therapy, the discomfort they’ve felt in varying their gender presentation, and Ari’s top surgery.
“Our #1 goal behind this account is to normalize queer joy,” the couple wrote on their Instagram. “We don’t often see ourselves depicted in popular culture, so we decided to be the representation we ourselves craved.”
When Col first came out as non-binary, they dressed very masculinely, wore short hair, and used a deeper voice. When Ari first came out as non-binary, they felt conflicted about their love of “feminine” things, like hair and makeup. They’ve since begun unlearning deeply engrained societal messages about gendered fashions, body parts, and behaviors, and have started embracing their own beautiful fluidity, noting, “There is no one way to be nonbinary.”
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Gradually, they’ve built an online following through their warm and humorous posts. It hasn’t always been easy, but they see the impact their sharing has had on others.
“For every one hate comment out there we receive at least three messages thanking us for being meaningful representation, a part of their coming out story, or even parents reaching out to us asking for advice to support their trans kid,” the couple writes.
Over time, they’ve forged relationships with queer people around the world. They feel especially grateful, considering the impact that social media made in their own lives.
“The other night, while sitting on our couch, we wondered how long it would’ve taken us to come out if we hadn’t been on the internet,” they wrote on Instagram. “Social media was our only access to queer representation.”
In sharing so much of their lives, Ari and Col have not only provided the sort of representation they both longed to see as young people. They’ve also created a digital time capsule of an inspiring queer relationship, one they can look back on in years ahead, to remind them of the little moments that might otherwise be easily forgotten with time.
@heycolanda #sponsored Check out the #AuthenticVoicesOfPride site at http://LGBTQNation.com for more Young LGBTQ+ Activists stories @Chevrolet @Lgbtq Nation @GLSEN_Nationa ♬ original sound – Col & Ari
@heycolanda #sponsored Learn how @Chevrolet is making a difference for @GLSEN_National and make your own donation on the @Lgbtq Nation #AuthenticVoicesOfPrid ♬ original sound – Col & Ari
