Daily Inspiration: Meet Shane Donovan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Donovan.

Hi Shane, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up with a gay dad, I was very fortunate that when I myself came out at the age of fourteen, I did not have to struggle. The challenges of coming out to family and being able to be authentically me never was an issue. Surprising, considering I was raised mormon, but my family always focused on love before anything. As I grew up, I experienced a lot as a gay person.

The year 2004 was very different than 2023, but I had the support of my family, my friends, and my circle; that gave me strength. Considering how terribly I was bullied as a kid, the fact that coming out gave me my strength was a bit surprising. I was not even bullied for being gay is the irony; I was bullied for my weight.

Let me give some context because I know this is a lot to take in.

My parents divorced when I was very young and for good reason, they both wanted to be with men. That doesn’t really work out, but I actually grew up hating the idea of gay because to me, that is why my mom and dad divorced. Obviously as a child, I did not piece together that my dad had tried to live a lie and failed. The 90s… light years different than 2004. Let me be clear, I did not hate my dad for being gay; I never viewed that as a negative; I hated what it meant for my family dynamic.

Then at 14, it was the literal “like father like son” moment. Even with all the support, I had questions, I had experiences, but who did I turn to? Social media did not exist, and I lived with my mom so my gay dad wasn’t really a resource I turned to. I had to figure out a lot for myself and unfortunately, a lot of that came at the expense of safety.

But how does that correlate to me now? Well, I never was one to shy away from telling someone how I felt. I loved to entertain people, I loved to talk and I loved being on camera. I’ll say it, a ham for attention, but being @shanexplains was never my goal, it kind of just happened.

Now I have been social media obsessed since Myspace and AIM days. I started YouTube content after high school, but it never went very far. Fast forward to right before the world stopped, the pandemic, I posted my first TikTok post. Remember I said I loved to entertain people? My first post was titled “Gay GPS.” I thought, “How funny would it be if a GPS gave sassy gay directions.” I posted it and for a brand-new account reaching close to 100,000 views and thousands of followers was quite a surprise! I remember getting to work and just seeing the constant stream of notifications. (I quickly learned to turn those off or I would never see anything else on my phone screen.)

From that, I started posting more and I talked about what I knew… good old homosexuality baby! I mean, I am basically an expert with more than 15 years of experience. You tell me one job that would not love to see that commitment to a role in a resume? As I posted more and more, I quickly realized people would ask me questions and a lot of them were kids. I would constantly talk about LGBTQ+-related topics, news announcements, trends, etc.

Fun fact: My username was originally LosShanegeles, but NO ONE could say it, spell it, or pronounce it so I actually did a contest to get submissions for a new username, and it was my mom that suggested what became my forever brand @shanexplains.

And that is exactly what I did, I have been very active on social media for the last four years or so and I do exactly what my username says; my name is Shane and I explain. I have had people tell me my content has saved their life. There was a young teen I will never forget that messaged me saying they saw one of my posts because their sister ran in to show it to them and it was right as they were about to end their life. Years later, that same kid, now a teenager, messaged me to tell me how great they were doing and how happy they are. I mean truly, Is there a better feeling than that? When you make content, you never know how much it can affect people. Having kids message me to tell me they don’t feel safe, asking how they can come out. These kids really trust me. My content made a difference in a way I NEVER expected. It confirmed in that moment that I had become the person I wish I had when I came out. Do I face negativity daily? Unfortunately, yes, a lot. I have received death threats, constant hate, and my videos get taken down by false reports, but the content I do make seems to matter for a lot of people. That feels incredible.

Originally I would spend hours researching, writing content, editing, but my mental health took a big hit because it’s a lot of pressure and stress when you view your worth in views and followers. Not just that, but most people only care about you when you are doing well; brands especially. I was not having fun; it become a job, not a passion. I had to take a break, but after about six months, I came back and changed my content to be what I want.”

It worked, my channel started to grow again, and I catapulted my following on Instagram too! I am known for stitching videos and doing my Gay Reactions with fun wordplay. I call it eduGAYtion. The idea is simple, find ridiculous posts from those I call Haterosexuals and point out how asinine they are. Usually this relates to Drag Queens, LGBTQ+ and youth, or all of the atrocious laws and policies coming into our world. Sometimes the posts I stitch are LGBTQ+ supportive, and I like to bring attention to those through comedy or sincerity. Either way, my content is meant for the LQBTQIA+ community or as I say in my posts “Lehgitabiqua premium.”

Another element of my content is a character I call the Fairy Gay Father. One day in a comment I read “ARE YOU MY NEW FAIRY GAY FATHER!?!” and considering I am 33 years old, I can’t deny the father’s age range anymore. I love to respond to comments whether they hateful, loving, or just make me laugh. You can’t miss my giant fairy wings on the FYP and I personally hope that filter never goes away.

So that’s kind of my origin story.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
A big challenge for social media is balancing what brings you passion and what the app will determine successful. I have obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety so I focus harder than other may and it affects me pretty hard. I am a very passionate and determined person so I get frustrated when I feel like I fail with my content.

Also, TikTok needs to stop favoring homophobia and actually have a violation system that works. Thanks for the invite to the pride event, maybe you can stop allowing and encouraging our profiles that focus on LGBTQ+ to be filled with hate. They have no viable way to get assistance; an ally is there even when it’s hard.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a social media content creator focused in the LGBTQ+ niche, but what separates me is my content is intended for all ages. I try to keep it PG-13. You only get one chance to make a first impression; If a parent sees it, if my mom sees it, if my employer sees it, I don’t want to disgust anyone. Honestly a lot of LGBTQ+ content is very adult. Don’t get me wrong, I love some naughty humor, but I like to sprinkle it in, not douse it with gasoline and light it on fire. To put it bluntly, there are very few creators on social media platforms that post content resembling anything near the type that I do. I kinda love that though.

I am also known for my clever wordplay and colorful content, literally. I almost always wearing something rainbow or brightly colored and my backdrop is rainbow glitter with rainbow lights.

As for what I am proud of, other than what I talked about in the first question, being able to be a resource for our youth, I am really proud of my growth. I have almost 425,000 followers on TikTok as I answer this question almost 25,000 on Instagram. That’s approaching 450,000 followers. I imagine it like every follower sitting in an arena, that’s bigger than any concert I could even imagine!

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is without a doubt my mom. My childhood and forever hero that represents strength and unconditional love. She could have shunned me, abandoned me, but she protected me and always made me know I am safe. Her love is how I know others can find it too; she has never hated me for being who I am. That ability to love makes me have hope hate can be untaught. Also, my dog Spunky. He is a chiweenie mix and he is my best friend and emotional support. I never had a dog of my own until I adopted him three years ago, but he can make any day better just by seeing him. Before him, I was never much of a nurturer and only had myself to care about. Dogs have superpowers.

I won’t lie; I spend a lot of time thinking about my future. What will it be like? Where Will I be? Will I have a special someone? I like to imagine living my life with my husband, yes I skip the dating portion in this fantasy. I don’t have a man yet so hence the imagining part. I have to tell you, My mom-mom is creeping up on the age of 100 in a few years and she always asks me, “Shane have you met anyone yet?” I always tell her she has to stick around at least until I do, then we laugh. She’s proof that coming from a different generation doesn’t have to come with hatred and nastiness. She helped raise me; she helped raise me focused on love.

I will finish by saying this, there is a lot more to me than what you see when I pop-up on your phone with a sassy gay fan and flourish.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: shanexplains
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shanexplains
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shanexplains
• Other: TikTok @shanexplains

Image Credits
Sean Kara Vibe Focused