Justice Smith Comes Out at Black LGBTQ+ Lives Protest

NEW ORLEANS — (06-08-20) — Actor Justice Smith surprises fans by coming out gay at the Black LGBTQ+ Lives protest that took place last Friday.

The Queen Sugar actor and his fellow actor and boyfriend Nicholas Ashe, attended the Black LGBTQ+ Lives protest last Friday to fight against police brutality white supremacy that plagues New Orleans.

The Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom gorgeous star came out as queer to bring more visibility to Black trans and queer lives.

Watch the video he posted on Instagram with his partner, fellow actor Nicholas Ashe.

View this post on Instagram

@nckash 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. You are trying to push yourself through the door of a system designed against you, and then shut the door behind you. It is in our conditioning to get as close to whiteness, straightness, maleness as we can because that’s where the power is. And if we appeal to it, maybe it’ll give us a slice. But the revolution is not about appeal. It is about demanding what should have been given to us from the beginning. What should have been given to black, queer, and trans individuals from the beginning. Which is the right to exist. To live and prosper in public. Without fear of persecution or threat of violence. 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. #justicefortonymcdade #justiceforninapop #justiceforgeorgefloyd #justiceforahmaud #justiceforbreonna #sayhername #defundthepolice #endwhitesupremacy

A post shared by Justice Smith (@standup4justice) on Jun 5, 2020 at 8:37pm PDT

The young actors were among thousands in attendance at the peaceful protests that have contiued to take place across the nation, marching for racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, a Black trans man who was also killed by police.

Justice and Nicholas continue to make history as they did when they were cast in Queen Sugar, the first ever television series where female directors direct every episode of the series. Snap! Snap!

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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