Saturday Night Social: Congrats to Abigail Thorn!

Abigail Thorn, the actress and YouTuber behind the popular Philosophy Tube account, came out as a trans woman today.

Well, technically she came out “ages ago” in her day-to-day life, according to a video posted on her main channel, and is only just now telling her nearly 45,000 subscribers. (Vulture clocks her total channel views at over 50 million.) But, still! Good for her. The relief in her voice is absolutely palpable. It seems like she couldn’t be happier.

“It’s so lovely now to finally relax, to sleep well with sweet dreams and be at home in myself,” she tells the viewer.

In a second video posted to her offshoot channel, Philosophy Tube Live, Thorn makes a feminist, anticapitalist appeal in support trans people’s legal equality, physical autonomy, and broader liberation in the United Kingdom and beyond. As she sees it, this would involve legislative action, like instituting an informed consent system of medical transition as well as self-identification system for legal transition, as well as a larger “redistribution of power and resources so society serves human need instead of profit.”

“Being trans is perfectly normal,” she says. “Like all human beings, we are inherently valuable and entitled to self-determination, and if that makes some people uncomfortable, well, it’s only because they’re choosing not to live in reality.”

“These are scary times, but courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied,” she continues. “Even when other people make it hard, being trans is a gift.”