While society’s view and acceptance of members of the LGBT+ community has come a long way, it still has miles to go. Other than their right to the basics and fundamentals, LGBT+ members are denied spaces for self-expression and places that provide a sense of community. In addition, discrimination causes a vast majority of the LGBT+ community to be underrepresented—if they are even represented at all. Able to see the importance of this representation and the large gap between avenues given to those that fit into the gender binary and those who do not, members of the community like Jeffrey Carter go the extra mile to ensure they have an inclusive environment amid all the exclusivities.
Jeffrey started off his career in content creation by covering songs – which, honestly, in the era of YouTube, was what pretty much everyone else was doing – but he’s rebranded to creating relatable and funny content for the LGBT+. “I started out creating content at a very young age. I have followed social media trends and how social media has changed over the years, ever since I was sixteen,” he shared. His humble beginnings started at the now-discontinued app Vine, which garnered him a following of 300,000 and gave him the opportunity to work with major record labels. Continuing his content creation journey, Jeffrey was also an early TikToker creating loads of viral sounds that generated about 90,000 in content. In fact, he was so early that the app had not even been called TikTok yet. Today, he makes a variety of videos about LGBT+ related content and using witchcraft to make people miss you on his Instagram profile (@jeffreycarterx) which generates over 20 million monthly profile views.
With at least a decade’s worth of experience under his belt, Jeffrey’s knowledge of the social media landscape is vast and substantial, which is why he has identified the need to form and has started to build what aims to be a safe space for the LGBT+ community and a platform for them to connect, create, and be themselves – all manifested through the upcoming launch of 4LGBT.Org.
More than just serving as another platform that helps provide information and support to LGBT+ members, Jeffrey’s goal is to build a community of inclusivity for people like him. “I want people who have had similar life experiences as me, of being part of the LGBT community, to have a safe space where we can be ourselves and showcase humorous, relatable content,” he said. Since social media has allowed him to create freely and express his most genuine self, Jeffrey hopes to make 4LGBT.Org into a space dedicated to offering this same solace to members.
In addition to making sure that 10% of all profits on the website go to the Los Angeles LGBT Center and The Trevor Project, Jeffrey says the main mission of 4LGBT is to raise awareness by connecting community members through spreading positivity and empowerment. “By donating our proceeds, we make sure we’re able to give back to our community – especially those in need. But aside from the financial aspect of aid, 4LGBT brings help to our community by providing useful resources: where to ask for help; where to get support; and, more importantly, a sense of belongingness. A community,” he said. After all, discovering one’s sexual orientation and/or identity is never easy, but Jeffrey promises that 4LGBT is there to help.
