"An American Horror Story": Boyabaddie on Surviving Trump’s America [WATCH]
In the pilot for “Beneath the Grid,” a new interview series where social media influencers go deep on LGBTQ issues, Boyabaddie speaks about the plight of trans and nonbinary people in the U.S. today.
Video by: Slav Velkov and Joey Lautrup
Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, his administration has waged a full-court press attack on the transgender and nonbinary community, with one executive order stating that—in the eyes of the federal government—they don’t exist.
Trans and nonbinary people of color face significantly higher levels of unemployment and are more likely to live in poverty and resort to survival sex work.
Boyabaddie, who grew up in Indiana and moved to New York City in 2023, has made a career as a social media influencer, model and actor. With more than 2.8 million followers and nearly 70 million likes on TikTok, they grew a following through their viral videos jumping on benches, climbing fences and coining catchphrases like, “Helllllo, bitch!” and “Hold my bag!”
Today, Boyabaddie goes “Beneath the Grid” to speak about growing up in a religious family in rural Indiana, the challenges queer women of color face in America today, and how they believe actions toward the trans and nonbinary community are akin to genocide.
Watch the full interview above or read the transcript here:
SM: Boya, thank you for being here.
B: Thank you for having me.
SM: Okay, before we get too real, I want to know. How did you come up with the name Boyabaddie?
B: So my last name is Tichenor. And my hometown, I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana. My nickname is Tichiiee. So when I started my Instagram, that was my Instagram name. It was Tichiiee. And then honestly, I would get a lot of comments like, “Oh, if you're going to be a girl, you need to shave your mustache off.” You know, I'll get a lot of those comments and that would actually irritate me. So then I put Boyabaddie.
SM: You literally jump fences, jump on boxes, jump on dumpsters and scream, “Hello, bitch!” with a purse. How did that happen?
B: I am a freestyler. I'm very free with what I do. And also that's what my content represents is freedom. Like freedom of speech. I say what I want. I do what I want. I wear what I want. And literally I just go out because the world is our oyster.
SM: I love that freedom is part of your brand.
B: I feel like my audience needs freedom, probably needs a good laugh, a good escape from the world that could be hell.
SM: What are your pronouns?
B: I mean, I feel like I go by all pronouns because I am everything. I mean, I represent everything. You can't label me and put me in a box because I am all. That's what I would say.
SM: Rewind a little bit back to Boyabaddie Junior, a.k.a little Aaron in pretty much rural Indiana. Talk a little bit about your upbringing as a kid.
B: I like art and I used to draw paper people. I had like, you know, crayons and papers. My mama, [my] auntie, my nana, rest in peace, would buy me all my arts and crafts. And I would sit there and draw people and every person would have a nice outfit. And I guess looking back, it's like stuff that I'm wearing now. I would just draw. That was my escape.
SM: What does gender identity mean for you?
B: I guess just noticing who you are, even though the paper when you came into the world says like what you are, that does not mean who you are. So like just tapping into who you are the best way you can. I know it's not the easiest, but it's the best in the long run.
SM: Tell me about the earliest concepts you had of your own gender.
B: I [would] put my t-shirt on my head, and that would be my long hair, and I [would] walk around. I had a short [hair]cut I didn't like. You know, it wasn't me and I knew I wanted hair. [When] I was in the first grade, my art teacher would let me put a piece of string. It was like yarn all over my head and that was my hair. And that was just me expressing myself because I love hair and I love long hair. It made me feel like myself.
SM: You grew up in what is a red state in a pretty rural area and the mental health struggles for queer kids were bad back then. And they're really bad right now. Forty-one percent of LGBTQ kids in this country seriously considered suicide in the last year. Tell me about your mental health growing up.
B: It wasn't the best and it wasn't easy. In sixth grade, that's when I found out the word gay. Because people would say, “Oh my God, are you gay? You're gay.” They’d always say I hang around too many girls or I talk like a girl, I walk like a girl. It was a lot. I'm 31 now and I can still remember that like it was yesterday.
SM: You grew up in the Baptist Church, right? Tell me a little bit about that and the earliest messages you learned through religion about what homosexuality was.
B: They would say if you're gay, God doesn't like that. You're not going to go to heaven and you're going to burn in hell. So that was I was like, “OK, I'm going to burn in hell because I like men.” My thing is if God is a higher power, he wouldn't make everyone the same. You know, the world would really be black and white.
SM: What did it mean to hear the people you trusted, the adults in your life saying, “If you are this way, you're going to hell.”
B: It was scary. I'm not going to lie. I was a child. I would think, “Oh my God, I'm going to burn in hell for the rest of my life when I pass.” It was sad that I felt like I had to hide myself.
SM: Obviously, I'm sitting here in privilege as a white cisgender gay man. Talk to me a little bit more about being, you know, a not cis queer person of color in this city. What are the obstacles that you have to face?
B: We don't get a lot of opportunities that, you know, you would get, honestly. I mean, like looking at you right now, you look like a straight man. You know? But like when people see me, they know what the hell is going on. You know what I'm saying? And it sucks. It just sucks for people of color.
I've called Ubers and I will be standing outside, waiting for my Uber and the driver will see me and cancel the ride and then drive off just because of how I look.
SM: I just want to read you some stats and get you to respond. According to recent data, half of trans women and femmes of color engaged in some form of criminalized work. Trans people of color faced four times higher rates of unemployment than the general population and 53% of them reported discrimination affecting their ability to be hired. Twenty-seven percent of black trans people had participated in survival sex work, and 45% of black trans people were living in poverty. How do you react to all that and why do you think that is?
B: I'm sorry. I'm trying to get it. How do I? Oh God.
SM: Why does it make you emotional?
B: Because it's crazy that I still have to hear this, and it's 2025, you know? I feel like it's an American horror story. A story that's insane. It's just insane and it's really ignorant to hear it now. And it should be better but people don't want change. I still go out and get called faggot. I remember one time this guy I had on [my] purse and it had fell off my arm and he said, “See, that's why you shouldn't be wearing it.”
SM: It's been a brutal past few months for the trans and non-binary community in this country. They're being dehumanized and attacked by the federal government, by the President of the United States. Trump passed an executive order last week called Defending Women from Gender Ideology, Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. In it, it says that it's the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable. How does it feel to be in your reality right now at this moment in time in American history?
B: This is going to sound dark, but he's dark. So if he really wants to erase us, I feel that he should round up troops and kill every trans person. Because that's what he's doing. Like literally with a gun. You can't erase people. You're just doing stuff out of hate and you're really not helping the people. But if he wants to erase us, he should just kill us, honey. Like put us in a room and bomb us, bitch. That's how I feel. Just do that, because that's what you're doing.
SM: And I think it is dark, but perhaps appropriate to use a metaphor of not just trying to erase, but genocidal. That's essentially what you're saying.
B: Yeah.
SM: His acts are genocidal. Why do you go so far to use that metaphor?
B: Because he's gone so far. I wouldn't have to put that example up if he was being a good president. He's not someone that takes my life seriously. My life and millions of people around the globe. That's so unfair. You're supposed to be a leader.
There's a list of things that the world needs, that the people need, if he wants to make America great. But he's not. It's hateful. It scares me, for people that are like me, that are in smaller towns. My heart really goes out to them because I can't even imagine. That's one of the reasons why I moved out of Indianapolis. It's unfair. I really don't have all the answers because I'm a human. I'm going through it too. Imagine people being upset because I identify as they/them. Oh my goodness! You are not able to pay your water bill. I know it's not affecting you and you're not able to feed your family because someone wants to identify [as] what they believe in.
SM: We brand ourselves as a nonpartisan publication, but I think there's a difference between nonpartisan and being nonsensical. What you just laid out is common sense. You want to fix your water bill, but you're attacking they/them. There's just zero connection to that.
B: Honey, people are complaining about gas prices. Can we work on the gas?
SM: There are little girls, little boys, little they’s all across the country. A lot of them, undoubtedly, are scared right now because of what's going on. What's your message to the kids right now?
B: Don't try to let someone that does not know themselves or someone that is clearly intimidated of you, someone that is scared to live their truth, someone that is so bothered by you because they don't know what's going on with them. Try to not let them dim your light. So keep that light, stay beautiful, we're going to get through these four years, sweetie. Four years. We’re gonna get through it.
SM: You are amazing. Is there anything else you wanted to say in this context before we wrap?
B: I don't even know why I'm getting emotional, but be yourself. Love yourself. Everything starts with you, and that's why I'm grateful for my fans because I love myself. I do. If people really loved them, they would not. There would not be no hate. There would be no envy. There would be no jealousy. So I wish people could just be [themselves]. People know they/them pronouns. Like, come on. You don't want to, [because] you have hate. Stop it. It's ignorant.
My bio on Instagram, and this is what I go by: “Be you, do you, become a better you, take risks, believe in yourself, reach high, don't stop, love life, and enjoy the ride.” And I feel like it's really that simple.
Additional reporting by Sam Donndelinger and Ben Land
Special thanks: Rise Bar, Ted Arenas, John Accursio and Azaan Haider
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Hey, how can we support Boya! I love their stuff and I relate to them as I came up Black Baptist, am emby femme leaning, but on paper still a cis Black woman. I cried along with them and I want them as having been part of this series to get what they need.
I’ll be dammed, especially considering our Black history, that those of us with decolonized and expanded genders are murdered and maimed an impoverished first because of techo-fascist ignorance. Boya, thanks for the reminder to keep doing me!