Check Out Barrie Rose’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barrie Rose.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am currently a trans non-binary creator of LGBTQ comedy videos, primarily on TikTok. I got into that sort of by accident. Before that, I was mainly focusing on my music artist career. Early in the pandemic, I started creating videos as an emotional outlet for hard conversations I was having about my gender identity and I think they started to resonate with young queer people on Tik Tok. I think representation is so important when you are coming to terms with stuff like sexuality or gender identity. By sharing things that I felt internally, I realized there were so many others who had and are having similar experiences. It made me feel less alone. Now I am making the queer content I never had as a kid. If I DID have it- I imagine it would have taken far less time to become comfortable with all these sides of myself, to really be authentic and live my truth. I hope that stuff I create can make people laugh and feel seen and safe and bring more understanding and compassion to the world.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been an entirely smooth road, there have been ups and downs. I think it takes practice to “put yourself out there” and not allow other people’s judgments and personal biases to affect you or question yourself. Basically, I’ve realized that there are a lot of transphobic people out there, who don’t necessarily understand that gender and biological birth sex are different. The internet can be a scary place because people can be mean without really getting repercussions for their actions or realizing that there is a human on the other end. Words are powerful. But I’ve become more grounded in the importance of just speaking your truth, and have realized it’s ok if not everyone likes me or “gets” it. The idea of being non-binary (though it exists in many cultures and has been around for centuries) is an unfamiliar concept to a lot of people, so I still think there’s a lot of progress to be made in bridging the understanding gap of what that is, to society in general. I hope I can do more work to help the trans community, especially the youth- because there is a lot of misinformation out there- that literally puts vulnerable people at risk. I just want young people to live in a world that fundamentally respects them.

Another thing I’ve learned is that my worth is not dependent on anything outside myself, and that’s been an important lesson. This is very tied to my Buddhist practice of chanting Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo. It is a phrase that puts you in rhythm with the universe and brings out your highest Buddha nature. Whenever I have a tough moment I can lean on that and use it to transform whatever I am facing into something to learn and grow from. I even chant for the happiness of any negative people or haters because I do really want them to be happy. If we are going to grow as a society, we have to be able to respect each other and listen to each other and have dialogue that facilitates harmonious relationships.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently specialize in creating, writing, directing, editing and acting in LGBTQ/gender-related comedy videos, primarily on Tik Tok. I specialize in conversational content with various quirky characters, and queer storytelling. I am happy that I get to connect to queer and trans kids all over the world and offer a safe place where they can consume stories that they possibly relate to in some way.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson has been to only do things that are in alignment with my values and to stay true to what feels right for myself..and to bring playfulness and humor to it all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tiktok.com/@barrierose
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barrierose
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6B32R2vcE-sh7NXMmQccfQ
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/barrierose