[This article appears in the January/February 2022 issue of Boston Spirit magazine. Subscribe for free today.]
Samantha Lux grew up in a small town in Massachusetts with fewer than 10,000 people in total. Now she shares her daily life with nearly a million fans from around the world.
At just 24, Lux has already become a bon fide social media phenomenon. The Bay State native has about 626,000 subscribers on YouTube. She has nearly 150,000 followers on TikTok, a number that has doubled in just the last six months. Oh, and Instagram? Add another 90,000 people who want to see and hear whatever she posts next.
Why? Because with each update, Lux shares her everyday joys and frustrations, as well as her observations on transgender issues in politics and pop culture, to a generation of LGBTQ young people who are only finally beginning to see themselves represented in the media as more than arch stereotypes.
Since beginning her transition at 18, she’s candidly documented important moments like a recent voice surgery. And when talking heads like right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro and comedian Dave Chappelle get out of line while talking about trans people, Lux’s youthful wit—coupled with beyond-her-years wisdom—delivers just the dressing-down they deserve. She spoke with Boston Spirit about becoming a breakout social media star.
[Spirit] When did you decide you wanted to start sharing your life and story online?
[Lux] I always liked the idea of being a Youtuber, and then as I was going through all the things that I went through, I realized that it’s really, really powerful to have a sense of community, especially being trans online. Online was the first place that I learned about trans people, so I wanted to give back in a sense. Then when I went to college I studied media—specifically the way that media representation of minority groups can affect prejudice, create prejudice or destroy prejudice. I thought about how I could use that to help the trans community online. I noticed a gap: I hadn’t seen people talking about their experiences in a way that was comfortable and open and raw. It was all very taboo, still. The people who did talk about it mentioned the good parts and left out the bad stuff and stuff that people needed to know. I don’t blame them—being trans is a very vulnerable thing to share. I mean, I talk about the most intimate parts of my life and it can be very scary. But those are the kind of videos that really helped me growing up, so I really wanted to create the media that I didn’t have when I was young. Growing up, the only representation that I had was people on Jerry Springer.
[Spirit] Is there anything that took you a bit more time to be comfortable to share?
[Lux] When I had my bottom surgery I had a tougher time recovering. I was 19 when I had it and very thin. So it took me a little longer to heal, and I did go through some complications. It was a really, really difficult time. I addressed it a bit right after the surgery, but it was a year or so before I really talked about what I went through. Because it was a dark time. It was the best decision I ever made; I don’t regret it at all, and I would do it again. But it was scary, and I didn’t want to bring that up. I didn’t want to scare people from having the surgery. I didn’t want to feed into the perception that people have that it’s something that people are going to regret. I didn’t want to put any of that into the world. But I also wanted to be real about it.
[Spirit] Have you been finding any opportunities to share your story offline, too?
[Lux] I actually do some work with my mother. We go to nonprofits and businesses and do keynotes. She’ll tell our story from the mother’s perspective, and afterwards I’ll do education on what it means to be trans. It’s so important that corporations have that sense of inclusivity for trans people who are going to transition while at work.
[Spirit] It must be strange, to go from talking to thousands of people online to a group of people in a room!
[Lux] It’s honestly just as intimidating, whether I’m in my room behind my little machine, or in front of a crowd. Actually, it doesn’t feel like I’m talking to hundreds of thousands of people in front of my camera.
[Spirit] Have you been getting recognized at the grocery store yet?
[Lux] Yeah, every once in a while. It’s cute, especially in my hometown when it’s high school kids, and I’m like “I was literally you six years ago.”
[Spirit] And when you’re famous, all the kids who didn’t talk to you in high school are suddenly looking to say hello!
[Lux] Mm-hmm, there are some boys that be doing that, but we don’t have to talk about that! [Laughs] It’s understandable, it’s fine—a lot has changed. [x]
More: youtube.com/SamanthaLuxoxo; TikTok: @_samanthalux; Instagram and Twitter: @_samanthalux
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