Time is elastic, and so are hair bows, the signature accessory of a certain beloved teen icon marking a milestone this week. In an Instagram post, pansexual legend JoJo Siwa celebrated one year since coming out — an occasion that made us pause and stare into the middle distance for a considerable spell.
Has it really been a whole year? Then again, can we even remember a time when JoJo Siwa wasn’t a sparkly rainbow beacon leading us through the darkness? Try as we might, we cannot.
Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine a world in which the dancing dynamo and media mogul isn’t one of the most visible and vocal young queer people on Earth. Over the past year, Siwa has spoken eloquently about embracing her identity and shutting out haters. She has loved and lost in her first public relationship, with ex (and still BFF) Kylie Prew. She has seen her popularity soar, made television history, and met her idols.
Siwa has become an ever-flowing font of inspiration, fueling our will to be gay in every sense of the word. This week, we’re looking back at the moments that have fortified us, and, frankly, made us who we are today.
That time she spoke her truth for the sake of youth.
Siwa has made it her mission to be a role model for kids, as she expressed in her Instagram anniversary post this week. “Please never forget that no matter who you are, what you look like, who you LOVE that you are absolutely perfect,” she wrote. Her commitment to fortifying and uplifting young queer people gets us every time.
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That time she gnawed human flesh on national television.
Siwa’s stint on Dancing With the Stars, with partner Jenna Johnson, was truly among the absolute highlights of 2021, on television but also in life. Her Pennywise pas de deux, which ended in Siwa tearing Johnson’s arm clean off and eating it as a snack, proved that Halloween is gay Christmas.
That time she admitted the struggle is real.
While coming out was a largely positive experience for Siwa, she also admitted that encountering backlash was difficult and painful. However glittery and colorful, Siwa has proven she’s not a role model who sugarcoats for the sake of it. Being exactly who you are isn’t easy, which is why Siwa keeps dishing out that encouragement to fans.
That time she taught us the meaning of love.
Staying friends with an ex is hard — and not always advisable! But Siwa proved her love for Prew is pure, and their continued friendship is a model for the potential of true, meaningful relationships.
Every time she wore a hair bow (which was a lot!)
What can we say? Siwa made us fall in love with hair bows. Every time we think there could ever be enough to satisfy that love, she goes and wears another one. There will never be enough. The limit does not exist.
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