Indya Moore, who is transgender and goes by the pronouns they/them, spoke out on @i-D about how they become the person they are today.
“I don’t really remember having any friends at 14 years old, and I didn’t have that much freedom either. I came out to my mom at that age, and our relationship shifted drastically. She told me it wasn’t normal to be gay and suggested taking me to the Kingdom Hall to meet with a few elders — one of them apparently “used” to be gay — to initiate a form of conversion therapy." Moore said.
Conversation therapy is banned, mostly in regards to minors, in eighteen states had has been linked to suicide. Moore continued saying anyone that supported their queerness they had been ripped away from. They also had gone to hormonal therapy after violent teenage years.
"I always felt uncomfortable and angry when I was younger. My mom didn’t support me then, but as a display of affection she did take me to Dunkin’ Donuts after I told her about my sexuality. But I experienced a lot of violence and started getting into a lot of fights at school too. I felt safe around my sister, but when she got married, I didn’t get to go to her wedding or see her often because she supported me for my queerness. At 16, I started hormonal therapy and started to feel better about my body. At the time, my parent- teacher coordinator was my escape from all the bullshit; the one who helped me find both the safety and the maternal support I longed for. She was everything! She celebrated my identity, introduced me to voguing, wrote poetry with me and took me to my first Pride, but my parents eventually cut me off from her. They didn’t trust anyone who supported me for my queer identity. "
In all the efforts to change Moore's identity they triumphed over it all with accomplishments of becoming the first transgender of Elle magazine, model, actor in the show POSE and was named one of the top 100 influential people in 2019 by Times Magazine.
"I went through hell to get here and I’d go through it again because I love who I am. I carry so much of who I was inside of who I am now, and although I’ve suffered a lot of trauma, I still manage to love myself enough to be as brave as I was then." - Indya Moore
Watch Indya tell the story here.
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