As a society, we are all held to white beauty standards, but for queer people of color—particularly queer men—it can be incredibly difficult. Racism exists even within marginalized communities, and queer folks are no exception. 

Luke Austin-Paglialonga, a Los Angeles-based photographer from Sydney who is white, shook his followers when he confronted the racist bias on his Instagram page. His read is so simple it’s brilliant. In only 24 hours, the post has racked up more than 370 comments and 3,848 likes. 

Photo: Instagram

Austin-Paglialonga is known for depicting youthful, scantily, clad white models, including himself in his work. 

“I am very much aware of how society is and how Instagram works,” Austin-Paglialonga told Blavity. “The white muscle boys who show off their bodies can work their way up to a half a million followers by just being them.”

Lately, he’s creating more diverse content using trans men and men of color as his muses. The shift in representation was not lost on his followers, and Austin-Paglialonga noticed a decline in engagement on his posts featuring non-white or untraditionally masculine bodies. 

For him, not having enough likes wasn’t the issue. Rather, it was the problematic messaging which implied that the lives of these men did not matter as much as their white counterparts. 

According to Austin-Paglialonga, the response to his post has been mainly positive with a few naysayers here and there. “I got hundreds of comments and DM’s that were mostly positive and mostly from black men,” he said.

Many of his followers rallied behind his post, offering words of solidarity.

“I went back through your posts to compare likes. I was devastated that this is actually a reality. Thank you for bringing attention and speaking on this. I love your work! ????,” @Edwardmarc06 wrote in the comments section

“Thanks for continuing to create art that asks people to reflect on their inherent bias,” @Keelyhh wrote. “As these comments show, it is desperately needed. People will use literally any excuse to keep themselves from having to think about how they perpetuate racist standards of beauty.”

The photos featuring QPOCs are fierce, and we’re here for it! For more of Luke Austin-Paglialonga’s work follow his Instagram here.