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Dylan Mulvaney Left The US To 'Feel Safe' Amid Transphobic Backlash
The trans TikTok star fled to Peru to get away from all the hate she was experiencing from the Bud Light controversy.
Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney hopped on a plane and left the U.S. in order to feel safe after the backlash following a cute sponsored Instagram post reached a fever pitch.
On Wednesday, July 12, she took to TikTok to tell her 10.7 million followers that she was visiting Peru in an effort to leave the stress behind.
“OK, surprise, I’m in Peru,” Mulvaney said in the video. She went on to explain that she was traveling solo because it’s “a good way to get to know yourself better” and that she came to Peru to “feel something.”
“I came here to feel something, and I definitely have,” she revealed. “I have done shaman ceremonies that were like 10 years of therapy, it was wild.” Mulvaney continued by saying that she feels safe in Peru, “It’s a little sad I had to leave my own country to feel safe, but that will get better eventually.”
@dylanmulvaney HELLO FROM PERU !! #peru #machupicchu ♬ original sound - Dylan Mulvaney
Mulvaney rose to fame after starting a “Days of Girlhood” series on TikTok where she chronicled her transition. The entire backlash against the musical theater actor stems from a sponsored Instagram post she made showing off a Bud Light can that the company had plastered with her face.
This simple video spurred transphobic attacks and a boycott of Bud Light by right-wing zealots. Supermarkets were vandalized, two people were attacked outside a liquor store because they were suspected of buying Bid Light, and conservative pundits came out of the woodwork to attack Mulvaney
Bud Light also received criticism from the LGBTQ+ community after it came to light that the company had not offered any support to Mulvaney after their sponsorship spurred on the anti-trans backlash and violence.
Last month the TikToker decided to take a step back from posting about her transition journey.
While she’s enjoying her trip to Peru — she’s even visited Machu Picchu! — she also misses home. “I am dying for some Trader Joe’s rolled chili and lime chips, but other than that I am so content,” she told her millions of followers. “Most of all, this trip has me feeling like my own best friend again. And that is the best feeling in the world. I hope you feel that way about yourself too.”
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
