Tyler Oakley: ‘Online bullies inspired me to stand up for others’
By Will Stroude
Tyler Oakley is a pioneer. At a time when you could go most of your childhood without seeing another LGBT person, the 27-year-old, who won Young Hero of the Year at last night’s Attitude Awards supported by Virgin Holidays, utilised YouTube to turn representation into something that was available at the click of a mouse button.
Unfortunately, as his platform grew, so did the trolls and harassers. But while online bigots may have tried to silence him, Tyler explained at last night’s awards that it was the bullies that really helped his voice grow louder.
“When I joined YouTube, I started to see the comments that I wasn’t subjected to in real life,” he told us on the red carpet. “Maybe it was harmful thing at first, because I felt attacked in a way, but I think long term it really opened my eyes that there is so much work left to do.
“And so while it may have been harmful at first I think it was for the best because it inspired me to fight for people who have to deal with that every day.”
Read more about Tyler and the rest of the winners from the Attitude Awards 2016, presented in association with Virgin Holidays, in our special November issue, which comes with six different covers featuring some of the night’s biggest winners.
It’s available to download now from pocketmags.com/attitude and available in shops from Wednesday (October 12). You can order the cover of your choice at newsstand.co.uk.
