Actor Justice Smith has come out as queer and sent love to his “guiding light” Nick Ashe, in a post showing solidarity and support for black queer and black trans lives.
Smith said that he and partner Ashe joined protests this week in New Orleans, and chanted “black trans lives matter” and “black queer lives matter” in the crowd.
He said that he was saddened at how some were not receptive to this message, writing:
“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. You are trying to push yourself through the door of a system designed against you, and then shut the door behind you.”
Tony McDade was shot by a police officer in Florida on May 27, two days after the killing of George Floyd.
Justice Smith went on to pay a sweet tribute to his partner, saying:
“There is so much tragedy on the timeline these last couple of days so I added some photos of me and Nic to show some #blackboyjoy #blacklove #blackqueerlove 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 has appeared in films including Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, while Ashe starred in the series Queen Sugar.
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