Transgender activist and TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney has left the United States and gone on a solo trip to South America in order to feel safe again. According to her recent TikTok video, she’s currently in Peru and having the time of her life there. She’s also been accepted by the locals far more than back home in the US.
“The people here are so kind. I feel very safe here. It's a little sad that I had to leave my country to feel safe," Mulvaney said in the viral video. The activist undertook the journey after a massive anti-trans backlash due to her partnership with Bud Light for a campaign earlier in the year. Scroll down for the full story.
Transgender activist and TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney went on a trip to South America to feel safe again
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
She has been enjoying her time in Peru, after a massive anti-trans backlash back home in the United States
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
You can watch Mulvaney's recent viral video from her travels right over here
Mulvaney has a massive presence on social media. She has a jaw-dropping 10.7 million followers on TikTok. What’s more, a whopping 1.8 million internet users follow her Instagram account. The activist’s video series, Days of Girlhood, has been viewed over a billion times.
In one of her recent TikToks, she shared just how wonderful her solo trip across South America has been so far. She’s visited the famous Incan citadel, Machu Picchu, in Peru. She was also overjoyed that she has “seen a lot of llamas.” What’s more, the influencer has done shaman ceremonies and claimed that they “were like 10 years’ worth of therapy.”
The activist noted that she does miss her home slightly, but other than that, she’s content to be traveling. She also pointed out that she has hope that the situation regarding transgender people’s safety will improve back in the US in the future.
Mulvaney took her trip to South America in the continued wake of her partnership with Bud Light, which is brewed by Anheuser-Busch. The brand has since then lost its status as the US’ top-selling beer, according to Sky News. Some Americans began boycotting the beer brand after learning that Mulvaney promoted it.
"What transpired from that video was more bullying and more transphobia than I could’ve ever imagined,” the transgender activist said about her video for Bud Light at the time. "I was scared, and I was scared of more backlash, and I felt personally guilty for what transpired, so I patiently waited for things to get better. But surprise, they didn’t. And I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did.”
She said: "For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all, because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want."
Some Americans boycotted Bud Light after Mulvaney partnered up with the beer brand
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Here is the promo video she did for the brand in full
According to Mulvaney, she has been frightened to go out in public after the backlash. "For months now, I’ve been scared to leave my house, I have been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And I’m not telling you this because I want your pity, I am telling you this because this is my experience from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much, much worse for other trans people," she said.
Mulvaney promoted Bud Light in an Instagram video commemorating the March Madness basketball tournament, on April 1, 2023. Some Americans thought this was a controversial move and they began boycotting the beer brand. Others also called for boycotts against Nike and Maybelline, other brands that Mulvaney was linked to.
"What I'm struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel. I just don't think that's right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history ever,” the transgender activist said.
According to a recent study conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization. The study also showed that there were no differences in these rates of victimization between transgender men and women.
“The media has rightly given attention to the 2020 increase in murders of transgender women of color. Our study shows that both transgender women and men are also highly vulnerable to non-fatal physical and material victimization,” the lead author of the study, Andrew R. Flores, said.
The study showed that one in four transgender women who were victimized thought that those incidents were hate crimes. What’s more, transgender households had higher rates of property victimization than cisgender ones. Shockingly, around half of all violent victimizations were not reported to the authorities, however, this was in line with the rates that cisgender people reported violence to the police.
“Research has shown that experiences of victimization are related to low well-being, including suicide thoughts and attempt. The results underscore the urgent need for effective policies and interventions that consider high rates of victimization experienced by transgender people,” study author Ilan H. Meyer said.
The transgender activist has a huge presence on social media, with millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
Image credits: dylanmulvaney
