Cassandra Bankson

San Francisco, CAPhoto by Michael Masser

A runway model who has struggled with acne, Cassandra Bankson never shied away from showing the camera—and her millions of viewers on YouTube—her true self. But while she became known for her unabashed skincare-turned-personal growth video series, there was another part of her life she hadn’t shared publicly until last year. Bankson came out as gay on YouTube in an emotional video and never looked back. Why get so personal with so many strangers? “My life is lived out pretty publicly online—this pertains to both the good and the not-so-pretty,” Bankson tells GO. “Having the ability to turn my struggles into topics of conversation has allowed me to grow immensely as a human, and feel as if what I went through wasn’t a waste of pain and time.” The video garnered more than 160,000 views, but it wasn’t the end of the story. “Over a year later, I still feel I have to ‘come out’ on a weekly basis,” Bankson says. “To the influencer at a beauty-brand-party who thought I was ‘way too pretty’ to be a lesbian, to a friend-of-a-friend who I’ve known for five years but never bothered to ask. To my friend’s parents, who wonder when I’m going to get married and don’t understand why ‘it’s a bit more difficult for me.’ As I grow, I realize that perhaps this process will never end.” And that’s just fine with Bankson, who is happy to use her position and platform, as well as individual conversations, as a form of education. “It’s liberating to watch someone become less discriminatory when they realize what we like really isn’t all that different.” —SEJ