Justice Smith and Nicholas Ashe come out as queer couple in Pride Month, talk about 'Black Trans Lives Matter'
Actor Justice Smith of ‘Paper Towns’, ‘The Get Down’, and ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ fame came out as queer on Instagram in a post expressing solidarity with Black trans and queer folk. He also spoke about his relationship with actor Nicholas Ashe of ‘Queen Sugar’, ‘Last Looks’, and ‘Custody’ fame.
On Friday night, Smith wrote on Instagram, “[Nicholas] 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.”
He further said, “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, an African-American transgender man was shot dead by a police officer in north Florida on May 27, two days after George Floyd’s death. According to Tallahassee’s WFSU radio station, in the run-up to his death, McDade stabbed and killed 21-year-old Malik Jackson. The Tallahassee Police Department said McDade had aimed a gun at the officer who shot him. However, reportedly, the night before his death, McDade posted a Facebook Live video explaining he’d been attacked by a group of men.
McDade reportedly said on his Facebook Live, “Just know before I kill myself through a shootout because that's what's going to happen, because I'm [going to] pull it out and you know these officers nowadays they see a gun they just shoot… So that's what I'm pushing for because I don't want to be here on earth dealing with the government.”
Following his death, initial news reports misgendered McDade as a woman.
“You are trying to push yourself through the door of a system designed against you, and then shut the door behind you,” Smith continued in his Instagram post. “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.”
He continued, “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”
He added photos of himself and 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.”
People responded positively to Smith’s message. As many fawned over Smith and Ashe’s couple photos, others commented on how the statement he made was a powerful one. “[Justice Smith] went off and spilled tea about a protest in New Orleans. The fact that we have a mainstream movie star who is male, out, using his platform, and spilling tea on people who were hesitant to say trans lives matter,” wrote a Twitter user.