Not cool with Pride Month? Well, queer creator RaeShanda Lias-Lockhart thinks you should 'mind your business'

Few influencers have managed to capture the hearts and minds of their audience quite like RaeShanda Lias-Lockhart. Aqueerbusinesswoman and popularsocial media personality, Lias-Lockhart has made a name for herself through her hilarious and insightful videos onInstagram and TikTok that frequently address matters of common sense. Recently, she went viral with a video to her nearly 3 million combined followers offering advice on handlingPride Month if you’re againstLGBTQ+ people.

It's a masterpiece of humor.

“Alright, you all, as requested. I am back with another list,” she begins in her now-famous video. “And since Pride Month is approaching, here’s the rules for surviving Pride if you don’t support the alphabet gang. Rule number one, mind your business.”

This opening line sets the tone for a video that is both hilariously blunt and deeply perceptive. Lias-Lockhart’s advice is simple: Mind your own business. She highlights the absurdity of those who go out of their way to express their disapproval of LGBTQ+ people, drawing parallels to similar behaviors during Black History Month. Her wit shines through as she addresses hypothetical dissenters by name.

“If you see us out enjoying ourselves, kikiing and haha-ing, it is not your job, Bradley, to come over and tell us you don’t agree with our lifestyle. Who are you talking to? Nobody asks you to come over here. And if it’s a group of lesbians, you might get jumped, get back,” she quips, her comedic timing impeccable.

“Rule number three might be a shocker, but mind your business,” the video continues. “Stop bringing us up randomly in conversations. If somebody asked you, Rebecca, how your day was, and then you say, ‘I hate the gays.’ Whoa, nobody asked you that. Watch your mouth because you may be talking to one.”

When she got to her fifth rule, she said, “And the big number five— and I mean this with everything in me—mind your business. You don’t have a heaven or hell to put me in. And when you get to heaven, you’re going to be surprised who’s there. Jesus is finna ask you about me. Mind your business.”

The video has been liked tens of thousands of times.

“Thank you for being the light that you are on here…while also being so damn hilarious,” wrote one person on Instagram.

“That’s it, and that’s all,” wrote another.

In an interview with The Advocate, Lias-Lockhart, 42, shared her thoughts on the overwhelming reaction to her viral video and what motivated her to create it.

“So many people have seen it, so many celebs have shared it,” she said. “You never know who’s watching you and the effect you have on people.”

While she's slinging hilarious viral content now, it wasn't always a fun ride for her.

Lias-Lockhart says coming out to her family at 19 was a pivotal moment that she navigated with the same straightforwardness that defines her videos. “My coming out was pretty easy when it came to my parents. My mom and dad were okay, but the rest of my family was hard. My grandpa was the pastor of a large church in this small town where we’re from.”

The content creator opened up about the difficult others face in their own coming out story, even that of her son who is trans.

“My oldest child is atrans man,” she said of her almost 29-year-old child. “It is difficult to navigate this life, but it is easier if people would mind their damn business. Keep your opinions to yourself.”

“My son deals with [discrimination] every day,” she says. When people turn to look at him and consider saying something unkind, she’s ready to pounce. “I’m looking at those people like a protective mom, thinking, ‘I wish she would say something.’”

That mentality of keeping to yourself isn't just a call to action, it's part of her core philosophy.

She explained, “Ninety-nine percent of our problems can be solved if people just mind their damn business. There’s no reason to confront us, to come over to us, to let us know every day you don’t approve.”

Her ability to find humor in everyday situations is a gift she attributed to her family. “My whole family’s full of comedians,” she said with a smile. “Even my mom, who’s in stage five of Alzheimer’s, has always been quick-witted and funny.”

Lias-Lockhart said that raising her children (besides her son, she also has 23-year-old twins and a daughter who just turned 21) to be kind and caring people was paramount. She said she did so with a lot of humor.

This familial influence is evident in her spontaneous and genuine approach to creating content.

“Nothing is rehearsed; nothing is written down. I just press record, and those things come to me as I talk,” she said.

Lias-Lockhart’s advocacy extends beyond humor. She speaks passionately about the importance of representation and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community. “Pride means representation, being authentically unapologetically yourself, and to shine a spotlight on that,” she explained. “We need to be seen and recognized. We will not go into the night quietly.”

Despite the negativity she sometimes faces online, Lias-Lockhart remains undeterred. “I have no problem blocking people,” she laughs. “But if I have to address someone, I do it tactfully. I never want to show their negative comment to give them any more fuel.”

Her approach is grounded in her belief that love and common sense can prevail over hate.

“Hate is taught,” she says. "Somebody told you that this is how you hate people, and this is what you do.”

After her viral video, Lias-Lockhart posted another video that perfectly encapsulates her no-nonsense approach to social media. Addressing her critics, she said, “I need y’all help with something. What is it about me or my page that ever gave right-leaning? That ever gave conservative? That ever gave soft, where you can come over here and tell me what I can and can’t discuss on my page. Are you dumb?”

Her frustration was palpable as she continued, “I made a video last night discussing that man [Donald Trump] and his 34 convictions, and then I had Megan and Felicity in my comments talking about ‘I got to unfollow you. This is becoming political,’ when I simply discussed what is happening in the world, which is what I do—social commentary. It’s giving very much privilege, that you think you can come into anybody’s page and tell them what they can talk about. If you don’t scroll your ass on somewhere.”

Lias-Lockhart said that her commitment to discussing a wide range of topics, from women’s reproductive health to Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ rights, remains unwavering.

“We discuss everything over here,” she said.

Summing up her point of view at the conclusion of her interview with The Advocate, Lias-Lochkart reitereated: “The world will be better if we just mind our own business.”