SPA Hosts A Conversation With Dylan Mulvaney

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — From “beergate” to “Book of Mormon,” transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney discussed her career with Penn State students on Tuesday night in a SPA-hosted lecture.

Mulvaney shot into the spotlight after the success of her TikTok video diary series “Days of Girlhood,” where she documented her transition into femininity. She has since garnered 10.4 million followers on TikTok and was recently named one of Forbes’s 30 Under 30 for 2024.

The talk began with Mulvaney recounting her time on tour with “Book of Mormon” saying she’s been to Penn State before in the Eisenhower Auditorium.

“It was lovely, and I’m really happy to be back with y'all,” Mulvaney said. “And I know it’s finals week so thank you for coming out even on a Tuesday night.”

Mulvaney discussed how she loves seeing real people in front of her instead of comments on a screen, and even interacted with the audience a bit.

“Are there any musical theater girlies in the house?” Mulvaney asked, met with some cheers from the front row.

She asked what shows are happening in the School of Theatre, and urged audience members to go out and support them.

Since a lot of Mulvaney’s background is rooted in musical theater, she discussed the potential of making space for trans actors on Broadway.

“I’m actually doing a disservice to the community if I’m going in here and trying to play by the current rules,” she said. “They’re so broken, and now my next dream in theater is to do a production of a musical where there’s a lot of trans people onstage.”

Another main topic of the night was, as Mulvaney comedically put it, “beergate,” or the scandal from earlier in the year involving a brand partnership with Bud Light beer.

Conservatives were outraged by the partnership between the company and Mulvaney, and public figures such as Garth Brooks and Kid Rock weren’t afraid to post about their boycotting of the company.

News outlets pulled old videos of Mulvaney's to try and ridicule the influencer, but she doesn’t understand why.

“They were all things that were wildly harmless and very filled with trans joy,” she said. “Then they tried to turn them into hate.”

Mulvaney was candid with the audience about her battles with negative mental health and said she always wants to be real with her viewers.

While it would be easier to always look put-together for the camera in her videos, Mulvaney said it’s important to her to not change who she is just because her platform has grown.

This year alone she was invited to speak with President Joe Biden in the White House and also was honored with the Woman of the Year Award from Attitude Magazine.

“I never want to get to a place where I’m not comfortable laying in bed talking to you with no makeup,” Mulvaney said. “I’m just so excited and honored to be going to these events in these places.”

At the end of the conversation, three audience members asked Mulvaney questions and were met with a warm greeting from the influencer, and a hug before they returned to their seats.

She finished off her lecture with her iconic “Love ya!” tagline, which made the audience laugh and cheer before they departed.

Kaitlyn Murphy is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact her, email kvm6255@psu.edu.