Actor and model Indya Moore continues to break new ground for trans women, becoming the first trans person to speak on stage at the , held in New Orleans and Lousiana.
The star, who plays Angel Evangelista in popular FX television series Pose, joined the likes of Michelle Obama and Mary J. Blige in the festival's 25th anniversary lineup.
“I’m the first trans person to actually speak and loan my voice at Essence Fest,” Moore said during their keynote conversation with activist and sex educator Ericka Hart.
“I’m really honoured to be here and share a little bit of my experience with y’all because I think so many of us don’t have an opportunity to meet and understand trans and queer people if they don’t show up as our family, if they don’t show up as our friends.”
The festival has faced criticism in the past for failing to include the voices of trans trailblazers such as Laverne Cox and Janet Mock. This fact alone made it hard for Moore to enjoy the honour, they admitted.
“It’s hard for me to find honourableness in being the first because honestly, it should have already been happening,” they said. “So many incredible and revolutionary Black trans women came before me. They should’ve received the attention I am getting now.”
“I don’t identify as a woman. I don’t identify as a man,” Moore went on to explain.
“I don’t identify within the binaries of those things. My choice to identify as such, even though I typically express myself in feminine ways, is to constantly disrupt the notion of the gender construct.”
First published in 1970, Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women, which has evolved to include an annual festival.
