Money Diaries
Money Diaries: Pride Edition
For the last five years, our “Money Diaries” series has been all about telling truths. In honour of Pride Month, we share some of the greatest conversations we’ve had with LGBTQ+ icons.
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There’s a myth that the LGBTQ+ community is characterized by high-income earners living it up in the world’s most bougie cities (as Nathan McDermott explored for The Atlantic). Not only is that myth untrue in 2021, it also ignores a persistent pay gap that has its roots in systemic exclusion and discrimination.
To honour Pride Month, we’re highlighting stories from LGBTQ+ icons who found their own ways through a world that was often stacked against them, finding their own paths to the lives they wanted, whether it was by starting a hair studio with a friend, scamming their way onto Broadway, or selling houses in between movie auditions. Yes, they’re not exactly representative of the way most people subject to discrimination live. But they’re inspiring (and they have amazing stories), and remind us to give a hat-tip to the hustle — or, as Shangela would like to remind you, to start giving actual tips to your favourite drag performers!
"My mom always told me 'know your worth.' If I look the part, then the money will come without question."
Read more: Tynomi Banks’s Big Break Was Probably Getting Fired From a Corporate Job
"Waitress. Makeup artist. Realtor. Dancer. Webmaster. Actor. I've worked every kind of job you can think of. So when I talk about my value you can trust I’m worth every penny."
Read more: The World Wouldn't Make a Place for Angelica Ross. So She Made One for Herself
"I do think that the more sought after I become, the supply and demand thing will have to apply. Time is money, honey."
Read more: Jonathan Van Ness’s First Financial Principle: “I’m a girl who has to stop herself from shopping”
"I’m still hustling, I’m still touring, I’m still selling my merch. But I'll just tell you this — I sure ain't workin' for a hundred dollars a night no more."
Read more: Shangela Would Like to Remind You to Tip Your Drag Queen
"There’s a thrill to spending your money on yourself. It’s gratifying. And it also means you don’t want to waste it."
Read more: Dan Levy on How Paying His Cable Bill Got Him on MTV
"I think that work ethic was really bludgeoned into us. And our parents really made it clear: Never carry debt."
Read more: Tegan and Sara: Only the Privileged Worry about Selling Out
"I think I will always act like a poor person who’s got money because I think it’s better. I’d rather be Molly Brown, from Titanic than Rose’s mom."
Read more: Jeremy O. Harris on writing of the play that received the most Tony nominations ever.
"Is money even real? I'm at a place where I don't even know if money is real, the way I see it thrown around."
Read more: Sam Jay answers pretty much every nosy money question we're not supposed to ask
"This is the first period in my entire life in which I don’t have anxiety about looking at the balance of my checking account."
Read more: Joel Kim Booster Was in Massive Student Debt Until Last Year
"Living cheap was a thrifty, fearful, existence. I bought big sacks of potatoes."
Read more: Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson is Done with the Potatoes
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