JoJo Siwa, a seventeen-year-old girl who is most famous for her singing career and humble beginnings of the reality show Dance Moms, took to social media last month to let her fans know about her sexuality.
JoJo has a vast reach across all of her social media platforms, so it’s no surprise that basically everyone with a cellphone is now up to date on the news of her coming out. With over 54 million fans across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, Siwa is a mega mega influencer. Until recently, her fan base consisted of young girls who love her music and bubbly personality. Now that JoJo has come out, she has gained the support of the LGBTQ+ community. Thankfully, we’ve been in search of a new supreme as one tweet put it, since Ellen is no longer a prime candidate, JoJo Siwa is the perfect fit. I can only imagine how much courage it took for her to come out. Even without the eyes of the whole world scanning my tweets I was a stress ball when I came out just to my parents. I remember that the only reason I felt comfortable to be out and proud was because I had others who went before me and paved the way. Without these people in my life, I’m not sure I would’ve had the guts to be me.
So what kind of impact can one girl really have? Spoiler alert: a really huge one. One sweet young fan on TikTok said “I can tell she’s very happy and that makes me super happy. Even though I’m nine, I know what it means to come out. It means for someone to be themselves normally.” At age nine I’m not sure if I knew what being gay meant, and if I did, I’m sure it was painted in a bad light. The normalization and acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals has changed greatly in the last 12 years and I only wish I would’ve had this sort of representation growing up. This is so important for the generation after us to have, and I hope that any child questioning or in the closet can look up to her for inspiration.
JoJo Siwa has so many loving and loyal fans that will support her through the inevitable loss of the few intolerable ones she may have had previously. Now she can live her truth and know that she now has a whole new group of fans welcoming her with open arms. Long live JoJo, a real teenage icon.