Come As You Are – Pride Feature with Kayla Logan
We always strive to celebrate equality without exception and show love in all its gorgeous forms. This Pride month, we’ll be sharing stories from queer creators and supporting queer-centered charitable organizations, embracing all types of experiences, sexual identity and gender expression. So Come As You Are and dive right in to our first feature: Kayla Logan.
Kayla is a body positivity and mental health advocate who we admire greatly for being always authentically herself and sharing stories of her journey exploring her gender identity. We’re lucky to have her sharing with us today!
Tell us about yourself! Who are you?
My name is Kayla Logan, I’m a queer plus size body positive and mental health advocate from Canada.
What are your pronouns + how do you identify?
I identify as she/her. I’m newly out of the closet and am just starting to explore my gender identity. At the moment I Identify as a femme lesbian. My outward appearance is mainly feminine in gender.
What do you do?
I am a mental health, body positive and queer advocate who creates plus size content. I am also the founder of the Perfectly Imperfect Campaign which is an international body liberational project.
How do you ‘Come As You Are?’
When I first came out, which was only last year, I felt I needed “queer identifiers.” That included facial piercings, tattoos, and dressing more androgenous. I wanted to fit into lesbian stereotypes. I wanted to publicly be recognized as gay.
Now I show up as me. I am gay and I don’t need to “try” to appear anyway. I don’t have to alter my appearance. I am perfectly imperfect as I am.
How does fashion and style help you express your identity?
Fashion and style helps me express my identity outwardly. The way you dress communicates your message. It allows you to show a different side to yourself. I am feminine presenting, I love wearing pinks, purples and having fun with feminine styles and silhouettes.
What can clothing brands do to help you express your most authentic self?
I am a size 20 woman. Finding clothing that fits my body is extremely difficult, finding clothing that is trendy is nearly impossible. Finding clothing that helps me express my identity and that is plus size leaves me with only a couple options. Clothing brands can extend their sizing up to a 6X to help plus size people express their most authentic selves.
What would make you feel supported during pride month?
I would love to see more fat queer people being represented during pride month. I feel as though the “ideal” gay person in society is “thin” and that doesn’t represent our world in 2022. It also leaves out the majority of the population who are above a size 14.
What brings you joy?
The ocean. Listening to the soothing sounds of the waves, the salty smell of the ocean and letting the sun kiss my skin refuels my soul.
Thank you, Kayla! For more information on the Perfectly Imperfect Campaign visit their Instagram page.
For the month of June, anyone shopping at Smash + Tess can donate at checkout to QMUNITY, a non-profit organization based in Vancouver, BC that works to improve queer, trans, and Two-Spirit lives through community initiatives and collective strength