Dominique Charriau/WireImage for Miu Miu
Companies need to ramp up their support for the LGBT community and prove that they're not just representing them during Pride month, Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen, also known as drag queen Miss Fame, said.
They need to invest in long-term relationships with members of the LGBT community, Dam-Mikkelsen told Insider in an interview.
"People want to work with talent during Pride month, but it's like, let's keep that conversation alive beyond these timeframes, because your identity really embodies this month, but what about the rest of my body existing for the rest of the year, the rest of life?" Dam-Mikkelsen said.
Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen
"I really want people to always feel that their worth is continuous, not compartmentalized."
When asked what businesses can do to better support the community, Dam-Mikkelsen said: "Money, pay them."
Dam-Mikkelsen is taking part in a Pride month campaign with Dutch fashion house Viktor and Rolf and global LGBT not-for-profit GLAAD.
There are a lot of queer individuals behind the scenes in the fashion industry, but fewer in positions with visibility to the public, Dam-Mikkelsen said.
But "Viktor and Rolf really got it," they said.
"They had always leaned in, allowed me to be celebrated as they put me right in that front row and dressed me," they said. "And it just felt like a match made in fashion heaven."
"When fashion partners with actual people or individuals that are identifying within the spectrum, it allows us to really celebrate and shine in our individuality," Dam-Mikkelsen added.
The digital campaign, called "Free to Love, Free to Be Me," consists of a series of films created by international LGBTQ+ influencers and activists, shot on GoPro cameras and their mobile phones. The videos will all be centered around their personal interpretation of freedom, and shared across Viktor and Rolf's social media.
"I don't think I'm fully free," Dam-Mikkelsen told Insider.
"I think I am freer than I've ever been, but I have some journeying and some work to do inside to really allow myself to set myself completely free."
Dam-Mikkelsen explained that they felt freer and more authentic than their younger self. They said that they grew up in a rural farmland area with their grandparents where there was little awareness of the LGBT community.
"I've always been feminine," they said. "[But] the way I was raised was like: 'stay humble, stay small, don't be too shiny. Don't let people see you too much. Because you'll be targeted.'"
"I'm still figuring out my contribution and existence within the non-binary realm," Dam-Mikkelsen added. They said they first started talking about gender fluidity around three years ago, but had been living fluidly for about a decade prior to that.
They added that there needed to be more explanations of what non-binary and gender fluid mean, alongside more representation in the media.
"Whether you're fluid or you're gender neutral, whatever your title may be, these have always existed, but unless you had an example, you're kind of discovering it maybe a little bit later," Dam-Mikkelsen said.
