"Detective Pikachu" actor Justice Smith came out as queer over the weekend in a thought-provoking Instagram post.
Taking part in the Black Lives Matter protests in the French Quarter, New Orleans, Justice shared a video of his attendance at the protest with his boyfriend Nicholas Ashe.
In the caption, the "Jurassic World" star explained how they were chanting "Black Trans Live Matter", "Black Queer Lives Matter" and "All Black Lives Matter" to add queer voices into the protest.
He goes on to explain that while society is fighting for black lives, these include black people in their entirety including the black LGBTQI+ community.
Smith also mentions Tony McDade, the black trans man that was killed by police in Tallahassee, Florida, after the death of George Floyd.
He then mentions that if the Black Lives Matter movement doesn't include queer people too, it's inherently anti-black.
The "Paper Towns" actor ends his statement off by thanking Ashe for being his "rock and guiding light through all of this" and accompanied the post with pictures of the happy couple.
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
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Justice Smith(@standup4justice) on Jun 5, 2020 at 8:37pm PDT
