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PrideHouseLA Founder Spotlight: Kent Boyd

PrideHouseLA Founder Spotlight: Kent Boyd

Kent Boyd

Whether it’s dancing, acting, or producing, Kent Boyd will transport you to another world with his work.

Originally from Ohio, Boyd got his start by competing and placing runner up on the seventh season of Fox’s hit dance show So You Think You Can Dance. With a background in musical theatre and excelling in the styles of jazz and contemporary, Boyd enjoys playing a narrative that is consistently infused with humor and wit. He is not one to back down from risks.

Since So You Think You Can Dance, Boyd has gone on to tour the world as a dancer with various, chart-topping artists, became a faculty member of Hollywood Vibe Dance Convention in 2011, and landed several TV and film roles, his most notable being Rascal in the Teen Beach Movie franchise.

More recently, Boyd is one of the four founders of PrideHouseLA, a rainbow-emblazoned TikTok content house that started to gain recognition after dancer and social media personality Jojo Siwa used the platform for her own coming out. Along with Garrett Clayton, Mollee Gray, and Jeka Jane, the house acts as a central hub for dancers and influencers to show support for LGBTQ artists and fans in a safe and inclusive environment.

Boyd took some time to talk with OFM about PrideHouseLA and how he hopes to be a role model for younger audiences.

Can you begin by telling us why you wanted to start PrideHouseLA with Mollee, Garrett, and Jeka, and how you were approached about it?
It was in the middle of the pandemic, and all four of us are in the entertainment industry out here in Los Angeles. We have been for quite some time, and I think the pandemic kind of really shook us up. Most of us are educators and teachers in the dance or acting field, and immediately, things hit a wall. The pandemic forced us to really think about what we can do right now to make funds, pay rent, stay out here. A lot of us are a bit older, so it was like, how can we find connection and how can we create content? We are usually traveling, going out to places, or working on sets, and that was kind of all eliminated.

Mollee and Jeka were looking at TikTok, and I had just started, and Garrett was really big into it, so they were like, “Let’s go to the beach and do Teen Beach stuff.” Teen Beach Movie is how I met Garrett, and I knew Mollee previously through So You Think You Can Dance. Jeka was in the industry as well. This just kind of merged us together to create content, and from there, we were like, “Whoa, this was really fun,” and the response was so great. That is a big thing, too. We love kids; we love connecting; we love sharing, and the app is so great for that. You can immediately send out boosts of serotonin and immediately start getting people to dance and move, and I think that is what my purpose in life is: to get people to dance.

We consistently started to meet up, and then we were like, we are all queer, and we all identify with this community that we feel has given us so much, and we are connecting to the youth. Then the Jojo Siwa thing exploded, and then it naturally progressed into, let’s create an empire. Let’s create a production company. Let’s create clear, specific content, even if it doesn’t have to do with anything related to our preferences. It is knowing that we are of that community, and we will support that community. The whole connection to Jojo Siwa coming out and really setting the parameters for our youth was beautiful. To be a part of that in any way, it gave us the energy to continue to move on and to reach out to those kids. I remember being 16-17 and having those confusing thoughts and not having a lot of mentorship or role models. I think that is where we find a lot of passion.

How would you say PrideHouseLA is different from other LGBTQ TikTok Houses?
We are different in the way, obviously, with our content. We are all trained dancers, so we have that element of professionalism in our movement and in our choices. I also think we are expressive; we’re weird; we are not afraid to be ourselves, and the best way to kind of explain it is, come to a party with us and see us. We are so inclusive; we love everyone so much we, and our team does a great job of making sure everyone feels comfortable, seen, and safe enough to express themselves, whether that be in our comment section or real life.

I am excited for us to continue to tour and reach these people because we have such dynamic, explosive personalities. I think it’s unmatched to other content houses, whatever their niche is. Our energy, it feels like we want to blast care into the hearts of everybody.

What does Pride mean to you?
That’s an amazing question. It means so many things, but for me, it’s confidence. That was the biggest thing. Feeling confident with whatever choice you want and eliminating the guilt and shame, which should not be in the realm of where we are. We are not doing anything wrong. I definitely want to be that person to be like, hey, let’s make sure we are not functioning from a place of guilt, hurt, fear.

@pridehousela

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What have you enjoyed the most about being a part of PrideHouseLA?
I really like consistency. Being freelancers in the entertainment industry, we are all over the place. One day, I am on set; the next day, I am in Dallas, TX; the following, I’m in El Cid having a margarita. We are entities that move everywhere, so what I like about this is that we are building consistency with each other, with our fans, and we want to make a space where people can reach us if they need us. Confide in us. If they need to be boosted up, we are there for them. What I love about it is, not being afraid of social media, and it is so much better when you are in a group of four people that can protect you and help you out of ruts. Social media can be so hard at times, and it can be so consuming, but this idea of a house, of a family supporting you, is wonderful.

How beneficial do you think TikTok and other short form video content has become within the past year?
It ebbs and flows, obviously, but I just find it so fun. Trying to understand all social media platforms and figuring out what kind of energy they put into the world, to me, I find TikTok to be the loosest. You can be silly; you can be gross; you don’t have to be so presentable. You can just kind of exist, whereas your Instagram and Facebook are a little bit cleaner.

I find that I really do connect with TikTok so much because I am a choreographer; I am a dancer, and it is an avenue for normal, I call them muggles, but normal people who do not necessarily dance every day. They can get their eyes on it, and that’s my thing. People can understand when singing is flat or sharp because they can hear it. What sounds good or bad. We must continue to train our friends about what’s good dancing and what’s not as elevation. I am in love with TikTok, and I love what it has done for me. So, I am very grateful for the app.

Have you always had a passion for dancing and entertainment?
Yes, since I was a kid. I was that crazy theater kid in a small town in Ohio choreographing my show choir, choreographing the musicals, leaving school to go teach at the studio, or I would not go to school functions because I was focused on my training. It was my life. It was what felt right. I knew from a young age, at like 12, that I needed to get out of Ohio. I wanted to go to Chicago; I wanted to train, and I wanted to be around that energy. It was something that just happened.

You got your start as runner-up on Season Seven of So You Think You Can Dance. What was your experience like being on the show?
It was crazy. I was pretty young, and literally, from high school, boom, right to Los Angeles. It felt like an explosion. Then to work with all these amazing choreographers and get all this exposure right away, I always look back and think, ‘I wish I would have had the brain that I have now to go back and make even stronger choices,’ but it was such a rush. It was so fun. I was living a fantasy. It was wonderful.

You are also a faculty member of Hollywood Vibe Dance Convention. As a teacher, what is the number-one lesson you hope students take away?
So many things. It depends on regions. We travel around 20 cities in America, and then I will go to Canada, Japan—I will go everywhere. For Hollywood Vibe specifically, it is region-based, and it is so interesting to see what the kids need. Right now, my passion is really just trying to help kids with manners, body language and really kind of understanding the general line because who knows if they are going to become professional dancers. The limit of us is so small, but what I am trying to do is connect to the masses and present to them, hey, how we hold our body, how we stand, we are speaking. It may not be verbal, but we are still saying something. There is still frequency and energy.

I am just trying to get these kids, whether they are 9 or 25, to understand that we are always speaking with our choices, with our life. It is a big concept, but the minute you present them with this, it’s like, why are you standing like this with your arms crossed? You wouldn’t do that. These simple things that everyone thinks people should know, we don’t. We have to start from ground zero, and we have to continue to share and see where it goes.

Kent Boyd

Have you always been comfortable with your sexuality?
No. In high school, I had a wonderful girlfriend, and I did that whole experience all the way up until probably when I was 18 when I got to live on my own and started experiencing life as an individual. My family is pretty open, very accepting, and so wonderful, but I do have a very religious upbringing, and that came from within my siblings. My brother is a pastor, and he was my role model growing up. He was just like the big, older brother who is actually cool and nice, so he was kind of our leader in that way.

In the spiritual journey that I went through, yeah, there was a lot of shame. No one would really talk to me about it, but I really wouldn’t talk to anyone about it either because I did not want to expose myself. As I started getting older, I was like, ‘Wait a second. There’s no guilt here. Why am I feeling guilty because I am not like everyone else? I feel different, and I want to express myself in a different way. I am fantasizing and dreaming about my life with a man, not a woman, and I do not want to feel bad about that.’

So, it did take therapy and conversations in time, and there were those moments where I was almost not honest or true with what I was feeling because I was scared. That part was scary, and that happened when I was around 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Those years were so fragile in my development of how I felt about myself and finally expressing the idea of feeling strong and confident holding a man’s hand or whatever it may be.

Have you faced homophobia in the industry?
Oh, for sure. Being typecasted, and I have tried to clean up things in terms of how I would sound and try to play roles that were way more cisgendered masculine, which that energy does run within me, but I can flow between other things as well. Then just the natural pressure you will put on yourself when comparing yourself to the leading men of Hollywood. All around, it’s everywhere, and it is a constant choice of where you want to take your mind.

In addition to Teen Beach Movie, you also produced Disney Channel’s Free Period. Do you think Disney is getting better when it comes to LGBTQ inclusion and representation? The company is known for its rocky past.
I think they are moving in the right direction, and that makes me feel good. I do not watch Disney frequently, but no matter what, I do think they need to make a stance. They need to cut religion out of every aspect in any way. As long as you are not hurting anyone, and as long as you are not throwing trash on the ground, love is love. Chill, relax.

There are basic human rights that the queer community is fighting for every day, and that makes me so frustrated. We are not the majority, we are the minority, and that means we have to band together and stay connected because I think that the system is testing us. Like, if we can stay glued together and if we can present ourselves and say, this is who we are, we are not changing, then I think the system changes. I really hope Disney is setting the examples visually because representation is important. Not only in the queer community, but all communities that feel marginalized or not the majority.

@kentboyd_

@xobrooklynne @garrettclayton91 #heathersthemusical #gay #foryourpride

♬ Big Fun – Evan Todd, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alice Lee, Barrett Wilbert Weed & Jon Eidson

What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform?
I am hoping for stronger and bigger collaborations, bigger sets, bigger lights, more space, more people involved in terms of how we can create content. Really trying to get it out to the masses. Create energies that feel inclusive and create experiences. I hope as COVID leaves—I know we have a real passion for going out and being live. I want to do concerts; I want to go on tours; I want to finally meet our people and have this face-to-face connection so they can feel our energy because it is palpable. I think that they will stay with us on this journey. So, there is just so much. I want to just boost up, and I want it to become grander, stronger, and even bigger.

Stay up-to-date with Boyd by following him on Instagram and TikTok, or visit his official website. Click here to follow PrideHouseLA.

Photos Courtesy of Lee Gumbs, Maxwell Poth, and Social Media

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