As the late (and oh so very great) Prince once said, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life…” Obviously, one of the wonderful parts of life is beauty and diversity. Few capture this better than YouTube beauty vlogger Nikkie de Jager. More popularly known as NikkieTutorials, she started showing us mere mortals how to do our makeup in 2015. So, as fabulous as this woman is, why am I writing about her?
Because Ms. de Jager just came out. Far from the Vanity Fair covers of the privileged elite, Nikkie’s someone blackmailed Nikkie and forced her to reveal that she identifies as transgender. On January 13th, she released a 17 minute video, entitled, I’m Coming Out.
In it, she states:
“Today I am here to share something with you that I’ve always wanted to share with you one day, but under my own circumstances. It looks like that chance has been taken away from me, so today I am taking back my own power. When I was younger, I was born in the wrong body, which means I am transgender.”
Nikkie’s story resonates with me as someone in the LGBTQIA community. I grew up in a small, Christian town. For me, people simply didn’t identify as bisexual or a lesbian, much less come out as a transgender individual. It took me until I was 25 to fully come out as a lesbian, but not before a disgruntled ex had told my mother and my friends.
The Dutch stunner says, “It’s time to let go and be truly free.” She further described her awareness of her uniqueness by saying, “By the age of seven or eight I fully wore girl’s clothes only and it felt amazing.” By the age of 19, Nikkie had fully transitioned.
While the announcement started because of a blackmailer(s), de Jager is ultimately the one who wins in the end. She gets to control her narrative, which is so vital in our community. She also received an outpouring of love and support on social media.
Nikkie de Jager is a beautiful woman and I love her platform.
She’s handled the entire situation with class and grace, not that we expected any less. Using her courage, we must remember our other trans brothers and sisters. Though she is a warrior in her fierceness, not all of us have Nikkie’s fans and privilege to be able to exist as who we are. In 2019 alone, at least 25 transpeople were murdered in the United States. We’re two weeks into the new year, and a transperson has already been murdered.
Let’s celebrate Nikkie for the incredible woman she is, mourn the loss of our transfamily, and rise up in 2020 to those who want our power and take it the f*ck back.
You can watch Nikkie’s full video here:
Feature Image via Pexels
