Queen Sugar star Nicholas Ashe and Jurassic World actor Justice Smith have publicly come out as gay, and a couple, saying Black queer lives must be part of any revolution. Smith posted on social media:
“[Nicholas Ashe] and I protested today in New Orleans. We chanted ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ ‘Black Queer Lives Matter’ ‘All Black Lives Matter’. As a black queer man myself, I was disappointed to see certain people eager to say Black Lives Matter, but hold their tongue when Trans/Queer was added. … I want to reiterate this sentiment: if your revolution does not include Black Queer voices, it is anti-black. If your revolution is okay with letting black trans people like #TonyMcDade slip through the cracks in order to solely liberate black cishet men, it is anti-black,”
Tony McDade was a 38-year-old trans man who was shot and killed by Tallahassee, Florida police in May but has not become a nationwide symbol of abuse the way others like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have.
Then Smith spoke of the “joy” in his life and relationship with Ashe:
“You’ve been my rock and guiding light through all of this and I love you so much. I know that on the other side of this Is change, though the fight is far from over.”
The march does go on, because none of us are really out unless all of us can come out and be accepted and free from violence, especially our trans brothers and sisters, and our trans brothers and sisters of color. And we need to remember that the Stonewall riots started because Marsha P. Johnson, a black trans woman, had enough.
Welcome out, gentlemen, and keep up the fight.
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