Anna shumate leaked
TikTok influencer Anna Shumate addresses her LGBTQ identity, coping with scrutiny, how she got started on TikTok, how she came out, and more.










Anna Shumate: I always was so envious of all these youngs on TikTok with these big followings of people who adored them and wanted to watch them all the time. So when I started posting videos on TikTok as a joke, I was secretly hoping that something big would happen. I started posting and I was like, wow, this is actually working—this is crazy. Now I am sitting here five years later. When I was just in eighth grade, I wanted to be one of thoses and so I always say that it was a joke, but in my head I was like ‘no I want to be as cool as them.’
Anna Shumate: I’d say to be authentically yourself. A lot of people on social media have these online personas. So, I think my goal is to do what I knowand that’s pretty much just being me.
Anna Shumate: Wow, that’s really nice of you to say. I’m just happy that people can find comfort in me being a queer woman on social media. It’s always nice to know that a lot of young girls who may not be out yet, in my eyes, tend to search for someone to look up to and find a sense of safety in. I mean, I know I did when I was younger. When I was closeted, I always looked up to the U.S. Women’s National Team and the queer women on the soccer team. I always found a sense of safety in them. So I’m just happy that, in my case, I can be that person for someone else. I try to be the best me that I can be so that they have someone to look up to who isn’t crazy.
Anna Shumate: It took me so long to figure out my identity when I first came out. I came out as bisexual, but I think that was just me thinking that I had this safety net to fall back on if I still liked men because I had a large following of men when I first started social media. So it took me, gosh, I don’t even know—maybe three years to fully recognize within myself that I don’t actually like men. I was just scared to let that part of myself go. Now, I like to say I’m a lesbian and I’m proud of that.



















