Fitness model Julian W. Lucas knows a thing or two about overcoming obstacles.
Lucas describes himself as “different.” He was born with one arm and identifies as bisexual. This often made him feel like an outsider growing up.
Throughout his teenage years, he struggled with accepting his sexuality, grappling with whether he was attracted to guys or girls or both.
“I saw things as so binary, I either was straight, or gay,” he tells Gay Star News in a wide-ranging interview. “And I was incredibly insecure about this.”
It took Lucas many years to fully accept his sexuality.
“It wasn’t until my senior year of college where I was no longer conflicted,” he explains. “I didn’t have the anxiety of am I gay or straight. I was able to confidently say to myself that I am bi.”
Of course, being bi isn’t without it’s challenges. Mainly, Lucas says, he has to deal with people who say he’s “confused” or assume he’s really just gay. It’s typical biphobic stuff, and it’s annoying.
“I feel most frustrated feeling like not being fully part of the community,” he laments.
When Lucas decided to get into modeling, he says, he wasn’t sure there would be a place for him in the industry.
“I didn’t think I would be able to [model] with one arm,” he recalls. “I originally went about it by trying to conceal my arm.”
Then one day he said “screw it!” and posted a shirtless photo on Tinder. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
“The reality is that beauty comes in so many endless forms,” he says. “It’s always been difficult for me to identify with people who see beauty through such a limited scope. I find a little bit of everything beautiful.”
Today, Lucas has over 70K Instagram followers and counting, and he recently shot his first campaign for Tommy Hilfiger.
“I want to inspire, teach, and motivate others,” he says. “I want to continue to learn and to grow.”
“I don’t take pride in a lot of things in my life. But I do take pride in my thoughts and opinions because I’ve truly taken the time to work through them, to contemplate, to grow, to learn from others, and adapt.”
Scroll down for more pics from Lucas’ Instagram page.
