Tyler Oakley

Tyler Oakley was an American YouTube personality and LGBT activist who as of 2016 had over 8 million subscribers to his frequent video posts. Born and raised in the small town of Jackson, Michigan, Oakley took an early interest to the arts. During middle school he participated in choir, as well as the school's drama club, and made numerous friends in the process. However, middle school was also somewhat of a traumatic time for Oakley. He developed an eating disorder as a pre-teen boy, but thanks to the help of his choir teacher, was able to overcome it. By the time he entered high school, Oakley started to realize that he was similar to the other boys in his class, but also very different. He came out as gay when he was 14, which despite being very difficult for him on a personal level, was met with love and support from both his friends and family. Oakley spent the next four years heavily involved in the school's choir and drama club, which helped him learn how to perform for an audience. When he was 18 Oakley left home for the first time to attend Michigan State University. The loneliness of college made him want to reconnect with old friends, but the telephone seemed too impersonal. That said, he turned to YouTube where he started making funny videos in his dorm room and then posted them to the site for his friends to watch. What started as a casual hobby, however, quickly turned into an all out passion. In the process, Oakley's videos quickly started generating thousands of views, and the more he posted, the more subscribers he reached. After a few years, Oakley became one of YouTube's most popular video posters, having his videos watched by over half a billion people, as of 2016. His new found celebrity status also earned him a trip to the White House, where he got a chance to meet President Obama, as well adoration from various other celebs. Given the power he has on YouTube, Oakley started devoting some of his videos to issues he cares about, like LGBT rights. He also published a book of humorous essays in October of 2015 called Binge.