TikTok sensation and queer influencer Anna Shumate spoke to Playboy about her relationship with her LGBTQ identity, what it’s like coping with the scrutiny she receives from followers about being a lesbian, how she got started on TikTok, how she came out on social media and to her parents, and more.
This is the first time that Anna has ever publicly talked about some of these issues or told these personal stories, but the social media star hopes to help other girls feel comfortable coming out of the closet to live an authentic life as their true selves.
Playboy: I heard that you joined TikTok as a joke first. What led you to really joining the app in the first place? We’d love to hear the story!
Anna Shumate: I always was so envious of all these young kids 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 those kids 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.’
Playboy: What is the primary message you use your platform for?
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.
Playboy: As a queer content creator who found big success on TikTok, please tell us about your experience coping with the scrutiny you receive?
Anna Shumate: It took me a while to detach myself from negative comments about my sexuality, personality, looks, etc. But I think with time I realized that I know myself the best and other people’s negative comments are just a projection of their own insecurities, for the most part. With that, I knew that if I truly was all the things people say online, then I wouldn’t have such great people surrounding me and people wouldn’t follow me.
Playboy: Do you feel experiencing that has given you a stronger backbone?
Anna Shumate: Oh yeah, one hundred percent. I mean, you’re just getting thrown at by these negative comments simply about you from people who only see you online. It obviously hurts sometimes and it took me quite a while to get over the comments. But, I mean, it makes you stronger. They are just people who truly don’t know me—I’m the one who really knows myself. If I stay true to myself, then other people’s comments won’t mean anything to me. It goes in one ear and out the other.
Playboy: How do you feel about being a queer role model?
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.
Playboy: What is your relationship with your LGBTQ identity?
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.
Playboy: That’s so interesting that your following somewhat influenced how you came out.
Anna Shumate: Yeah, it was so bizarre. When I first started on TikTok, my following was 90 percent men and only 10 percent women. So I was like, if I come out as anything but bisexual, what are they gonna say? I mean, obviously they always have something to say and some of them aren’t happy with it. Some of them are like, ‘you go girl.’ But I was just so scared of that for so long. And now I actually like who I am and I shouldn’t care what random men have to say about who I love. I have fully adapted to my true self and being lesbian and I am very much open. My following is 50/50 men and women now, so it’s refreshing.
Playboy: How was your coming out experience?
Anna Shumate: It was so funny—I came out online before I even came out to my parents. I came out to the people I was around at a content house and everyone around me then knew that I wasn’t straight, but some people on the internet didn’t really know. They had some hints, but they didn’t fully know and I never really confirmed anything. Obviously some men weren’t too happy with the fact that I wasn’t really for them anymore. But that’s just kind of how it goes. So I just put up a video online. I was like ‘I’m bisexual.’ It was funny.
Playboy: Was it one of your most-viewed videos?
Anna Shumate: Yeah, yup. I think it’s up there in the top 10 of my biggest videos online.
After I posted the video, I texted my mom. Or, I think she texted me saying, ‘I just saw your video. Why didn’t you tell me about this?. I told her that I was kind of really scared and didn’t know what she would say. She was like, ‘we love you for you. We don’t care.’ It was really nice. And my dad doesn’t have social media, so I texted him. He was like, ‘I love you so much. I already knew.’ I was like, okay, this is easy. It was so nice.
Playboy: Was it one of your most-viewed videos?
Anna Shumate: Yeah, yup. I think it’s up there in the top 10 of my biggest videos online.
Playboy: How was coming out to your parents?
Anna Shumate: After I posted the video, I texted my mom. Or, I think she texted me saying, ‘I just saw your video. Why didn’t you tell me about this?. I told her that I was kind of really scared and didn’t know what she would say. She was like, ‘we love you for you. We don’t care.’ It was really nice. And my dad doesn’t have social media, so I texted him. He was like, ‘I love you so much. I already knew.’ I was like, okay, this is easy. It was so nice.
Playboy: I love that you told your parents via text.
Anna Shumate: I know! I was so afraid to call them and tell them because it was so nerve-wracking. So I just texted them basically saying, I’m just sending this little paragraph of text to tell you that, I don’t know if you know this, but I am bisexual. Love you.’
Playboy: What is one thing you’d love to tell other girls who are afraid to come out right now?
Anna Shumate: It’s definitely a scary thing, even for me. It was pretty scary and obviously some people may not like it, but what life is worth living if you’re not fully being you. If you’re constantly pushing away this part of yourself, that’s going to eat you alive inside. Once you’re truly being yourself and you’re out there, you feel pretty invincible, free, and unstoppable. And then you get to love openly.
Playboy: What is your happy place?
Anna Shumate: Man, I have so many happy places. I would say that my main happy place is being surrounded by my people. I feel pretty lucky to have such great friends and family who I always just want to be around because they make me feel good and I can just truly be myself with them.
Also, just being with my dog. He’s four years old now—I got him when I first moved away from home, and if I didn’t have him, I would probably be so lost right now. He’s truly my best friend. He’s a husky and his name is Pluto. It’s just nice coming home to him. He’s a talkative little fella and he’ll always just want to be doing something. He has so much personality that I just want to be around him all the time.
Playboy: So you play soccer, right?
Anna Shumate: Right now it’s a hobby. I grew up playing soccer since I was two years old and then when I graduated high school, I was thinking about playing college soccer, but I had a big knee injury so my confidence wasn’t fully there. So now I just play it as a hobby. But I’ve been thinking about doing a league out here because I know there’s a bunch of them by me. I’ve been thinking about joining one of those and having weekly games. I think that’d be really fun.
Playboy: So, are you in a relationship or in love right now?
Anna Shumate: No and no. I am very much single right now. I was in a relationship last year. It’s painful but, honestly, it’s also kind of nice because I have this time to truly figure out what I want, what I need, and how to better myself in my personal friendships and family relationships. And so I think in the long run, that’ll help me with my next relationship, hopefully.
Playboy: How do you prioritize your mental health?
Anna Shumate: I feel like pretty much everybody has their struggles with mental health, myself included—even over the past month. I’ve kind of felt like I’ve been going through this identity crisis and so I’m trying to find my grounding and my footing again, and really just come back to me. I feel, for so long, I was just constantly being this people pleaser and doing what other people wanted and never forming my own opinions because I was just so afraid of what other people would say and how they would react.
But, I think that once you really sit down with yourself and you’re detaching yourself from all these negative thoughts, that’s when you can truly realize things may not be as bad as they seem. Obviously, for certain reasons there’s different cases, but I think it’s such a fluid thing. You’re gonna have bad days, but I think you can make the most of it.