Proud of who they are:
Sue and Lee have built an audience of more than 80,000 Instagram followers (@420OldFatLesbians) with their daily video vignettes promoting a positive message of self-acceptance.
“We retired to Maine, and in the winter there’s not a lot to do. So, we were just thinking let’s start an Instagram account.” —420OldFatLesbians
What’s the best thing about being social media influencers?
We have a lot of people direct-message (DM) us to thank us for being who we are and say they were able to either come out or be proud of their body, or that we inspired them to do something. And it’s very humbling. It’s just who we are. We actually read all the comments and read all the DMs and answer all of those.
What’s the biggest challenge?
So many accounts, especially in the cannabis field, get deleted. We were going to do a promo for somebody who had spent six years building their audience, and all of a sudden, overnight the whole thing got deleted. We were shadow-banned for a while in the beginning, and we weren’t able to upload any videos until [Instagram] figured out we grew organically and didn’t have a bot or anything. If Instagram chose to delete us, would they be discriminating against us for our sexuality or age or weight? It’s not just the cannabis.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
Lee: I wish I knew that cannabis was okay, when I was a younger person, and that it was good for anxiety and pain relief.
Sue: She grew up a little bit differently than I did. I always since high school dabbled with it. But what I wish I knew is that when things seem heartbreaking or devastating or traumatic, it’s really only a brief moment in your life. Nothing lasts forever. You can get through it. Just keep your head up.
BY THE NUMBERS
12: years as soulmates
120-ish: their combined age
45-ish: combined years using cannabis
