Justice Smith Comes Out Gay In Solidarity for Black Queers
By Jazz Tangcay
Actor Justice Smith took to his Instagram to show his solidarity and support for Black queer lives and Black trans lives while also coming out as queer.
Smith, who has appeared in “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” “The Get Down” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” shared that he and “Queen Sugar” actor Nicholas Ashe are a couple.
In his Instagram post Friday night, Smith shared a video from a protest 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,” he wrote.
Using the hashtags #blackboyjoy, #blacklove and #blackqueerlove, Smith declared his love for Ashe writing, “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.”
Smith went on to express the importance of including Black queer voices in Black Lives Matter protests.
“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.”
Smith called for equality for Black, queer and trans voices and “the right to exist. To live and prosper in public. Without fear of persecution or threat of violence.”
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