Kicking off the new year, we’re thrilled to introduce Travis as January’s Certified Hunky! The Certified Hunky program celebrates members of the LGBTQ+ community who embody authenticity, positivity, and individuality. Travis, a dynamic nonbinary creative with a passion for coffee, punk rock, and connection, perfectly represents what it means to be a Certified Hunky. Let’s dive into their story and learn more about what makes them uniquely hunky.
The Questionnaire
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself! What's your name, and where are you from?
A: I’m Travis, my pronouns are they/them. I live with my husbear in our mountain home located in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. I am the host of Caffeinated N’ Queer, a caffeinated series with an LGBTQ+ focus. I am a co-founding member and singer of the punk rock n roll band, Dead Bird Pie.
Q: What does being a 'Certified Hunky' mean to you?
A: Being Certified Hunky to me means that I’m being recognized for my positive vibes and demeanor, and authenticity. When I was younger, I was a very angry person and not very confident. Kind of lost, especially while in the closet. It took a lot of continuous personal growth and discovery to reach the mental peace, positive mindset, and confidence I have now. I’m grateful for the recognition.
Q: What are three things that you are most passionate about?
A: I am passionate about helping people work through the personal or professional roadblocks they may be encountering. The last several years I’ve come to realize that I have a passion for learning. I’ve been trying to develop my cooking skills. I’ve been learning German. I’m curious to hear about people’s lived experiences and perspectives. Lastly, I have a passion for coffee. Hot coffee, espresso, or cold brew, they are all delicious. I love trying new roasts and discovering new coffee roasters or cafes, especially if they are LGBTQ-owned.
Q: How do you express your individuality and authenticity in your everyday life?
A: I express my individuality and authenticity through my style. I love the style moment both personally and professionally. I’m tattooed all over my body. Several piercings. Nails either painted or glued on. I am out and visible. I express my individuality and authenticity through the energy I put out into the world and through the language I use like asking people to learn my pronouns or talking about my husbear.
Q: What's a recent achievement or personal milestone that you're really proud of?
A: A recent achievement would be blowing my reading challenge goal out of the water. I set my goal for 13 books and ended up consuming 91. Cheers for tracking audiobooks. A personal milestone would be the release of Dead Bird Pie’s Afraid of the Hearse Racer maxi single. My friend and co-founding band mate and I recorded the Afraid of the Hearse Racer during the summer 2020 when we were in between band line-ups. I sang and played all the bass and guitar parts. Very proud of that release.
Q: Who is a role model or figure that has inspired you in your journey, and why?
A: Alok Vaid-Menon and Bimini Bon Boulash are two people who inspire me. They are nonbinary and authentically themselves. They challenge norms. They are punk rock. I revisit their books at least once a year. Check out Alok’s Beyond the Gender Binary and Bimini’s Release the Beast.
Q: What do you love most about being part of the LGBTQ+ community?
A: What I love most about being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is that our existence and being is naturally punk rock. When I say punk rock, I’m referring to punk culture. We are rebellious against many societal traditions. When necessary we push back against authority. We are a vibrant and resilient group of people found in every ethnicity, age, race, nationality, socioeconomic status, religion, and ability level. We are everywhere.
Q: If you could have a superpower for a day, what would it be and how would you use it?
A: Easy. I’d have the ability to control time. I would go back in time to when my former dog, Sketchy, was young and healthy so I could play fetch, cuddle with them, and record videos of him so I’d never forget his personality. Then I’d slow time down so I could spend it with friends and doing activities I love.
Q: What's one thing you wish more people understood about you?
A: I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way. ;)
Q: How do you stay connected with your friends and community? Do you have any favorite events, clubs, or online spaces?
A: I stay connected with friends by hanging out with them over drinks or watching movies. If a friend is not within travel distance, we have regular FaceTime calls scheduled, which are completely flexible to our schedules. If we can meet, great. If we need to push, no worries. But this has been really helpful with staying connected to close friends who I can’t see in-person. My husbear and I are active with attending local Pride organization monthly mixers and we try to attend as many local Pride festivals during Pride season.
The goal of Caffeinated N’ Queer is for it to be an online space that connects people with different LGBTQ+ information, resources, media recommendations. My main episodes are focused on different topics or conversations with other LGBTQ+ people. My minisodes, which I call An Extra Shot, are recommendations of LGBTQ+ podcasts, movies, coffees, books, businesses, etc. A future goal would to have in-person meet-ups or other events.
Thank you, Travis!
Thank you, Travis, for sharing your story and being an inspiration! If you enjoyed learning about Travis, be sure to follow their work on Instagram at Caffeinated N’ Queer.
Are you or someone you know the next Certified Hunky? We’re always looking for incredible individuals to spotlight. Send your nominations (or nominate yourself!) to me at christian@hunkytops.store. Let’s celebrate the amazing people who make our community shine!
Christian from Hunky Tops
Founder
