GLAAD is pleased to share this guest post from B. Scott on the heels of the announcement of their new and historic BET talk show.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my journey in media. It’s been marked by high highs and the lowest of lows, and yet I’m still here. I’ve learned a lot in my time, about the media industry, Hollywood and running a business. But most of all, I’ve learned so much about myself.
I moved to Los Angeles in 2005 with nothing but three red suitcases. After I arrived in L.A., I did a little modeling on the side — but I kept hearing from agents that I was too feminine and that if they wanted to photograph a woman, they’d hire one. It seemed like they didn’t know what to do with me because the way I showed up in the world was somewhere between their expectations of what a man or a woman should be. I wasn’t clearly one or the other. Hearing this over and over, I decided to take my identity and lived experience into my own hands.
I began blogging with a friend for fun and eventually founded lovebscott.com in 2007. Six months later, I started a YouTube channel and went viral too many times to count, before going viral was even really a thing. It was on YouTube that the world truly was introduced to me.
As has been the case with social media, the platform allowed people of all backgrounds to fall in love with my unique personality and perspective. I was able to build a community of fans and admirers, who, to this day, are my “love muffins.” And though there were some negative comments and questions about my identity, I was able to exist and grow as I felt most comfortable — in and out of hair, makeup, and heels. But, most importantly, regardless of what I wore or the way the world tried to define me, I was just being me: B. Scott.
If I’m being honest, I’ve never really been into using labels to describe myself, because I already know who I am. But as the world around me has grown and expanded its vocabulary, I understand how important it can be to use labels as a means of seeing ourselves, expanding our worlds, and finding community. Because of that, and the generations of people who find themselves reflected in my image or simply have gotten to know me over the years, I feel compelled to say this: I am a trans non-binary person and I use them/they pronouns. My gender identity, who I am on the inside, doesn’t fit the binary labels of “man” or “woman.”
This isn’t about how I dress or whether I wear makeup or not; trans non-binary people can have many different types of gender expression. This is about knowing that my gender identity doesn’t fit into the two binary gender boxes.
I know that declarations like this can sometimes be sensationalized so I want to be clear about one thing: this is not a coming out letter. There’s never been anything that I needed to come out about as I’ve always been my most authentic self; I’m still the B. Scott you’ve always known me to be. I’m just clarifying a bit more about me, in my own words, because being able to name ourselves and be understood by others is important. Everyone should be able to share their truth in their own time and in their own way.
To read more about the Twenties After Show announcement from BET: https://www.bet.com/celebrities/news/2021/03/09/b-scott-host-and-executive-producer-new-after-show-for-twenties.html?cq_ck=1615318435904