Boundaries have been broken for the LGBTQ+ community once again, and in a very fabulous way, thanks to the latest cover of ELLE magazine. There's a much bigger call for celebrities these days to use their platform for the greater good. Whether it brings attention to oppressed groups, reveals injustices in the world, or simply raises awareness of the unknown — being famous is about more than how well you can act, sing, or dance. Just ask Indya Moore, a transgender woman and Pose FX television series star who just made history as the first trans woman to cover ELLE magazine. In a groundbreaking and moving cover story, she speaks up about the trials she's faced as a transgender woman in the LGBTQ+ community. She also peels back the layers of so much more progress that needs to be made in the world. The feature is everything we thought it would be, and we can't get enough!<doc-sep>Indya Moore Makes History As First Trans Person to Cover Elle US Indya Moore has cemented the major moment they are having right now as the June cover of Elle magazine. Having appeared as the face of Louis Vuitton, as well as Calvin Klein, the Pose star is now the first trans person to appear on the cover of the American version of Elle. “Thank you for having me as your first experience covering a trans person,” Moore wrote to Elle in a tweet. “I know I will not be the last. So excited to see Elle leverage their platform to help other talent of trans [experience] find visibility, and the safe space to be acknowledged and vulnerable in this powerful way.” Trans women like Valentina Sampaio and Lea T have all covered international versions of the publication in the past In the accompanying feature, writer Jada Yuan explains that Indya is nonbinary and utilizes they/them pronouns. They allow the usage of “she,” most for the comfort of others who assume their pronouns due to how society discusses trans identities. But in the accompanying feature, Moore goes on to reveal a lot more about becoming the person they are today. The story of many trans or queer people of color can be tragic tales that involve violence, poverty and sometimes exploitation. Moore’s tale includes it all. In the feature they detail how signs of femininity as a child prompted discipline from their Jehovah’s Witness, Latinx parents as they had been assigned male at birth. That discipline became so bad that Moore was relocated to the foster system. “A lot of times, when parents over-discipline their children, especially when they’re queer, their intention isn’t to hurt them,” Moore said. “They think they’re saving their children from harm. But they don’t realize that they’re causing harm, that they’re doing to their kids exactly what they’re afraid of the world doing to them.” Entering the foster system sent Moore in and out of group homes as well as foster homes. They also began attending the Bronx Community Pride Center where they met Dominique Jackson, a co-star on Pose and the first trans woman Moore had ever seen. After later being placed in a foster home with a guardian who was a trans woman, Moore started a regimen of hormones which they say improved their mood and relationship with their body. But when that guardian decided to stop supplying the hormones, Moore went elsewhere, finding themselves in a sex trafficking ring at 16. “They told me I needed to do it continuously so that I could afford hormones,” she said. “I didn’t understand what sex trafficking was at the time. The language I knew was that they were, basically, my pimps. I was just a kid.” The experience subjected her to not only rape but other types of physical violence. But as we know, it wasn’t the end of Moore’s story. They used social platforms like Instagram to share photos of themself and joined the House of Xtravaganza in the early 2000s. Those experiences got her cast in the independent film Saturday Church which led to her casting in Pose in addition to signing to the modeling agency IMG. And now, the multi hyphenate is experiencing a different style of living all together. RELATED | Born Beautiful: A Short History of Trans Models In Fashion<doc-sep>Indya Moore, alongside fellow “Pose” castmates and crew, is changing the game in Hollywood with the stories told by a cast with the most transgender actors in history. Moore, who prefers to use they/them pronouns, is making waves in their own right. The 24-year-old, who plays Angel on the landmark series, is Elle’s June 2019 cover star. They are the first transgender person to accomplish this. Zoey Grossman Indya Moore, who plays Angel on FX's "Pose," is Elle Magazine's first transgender cover star. Moore looks gorgeous on the cover wearing Louis Vuitton, a fashion house that has embraced them not only as a model but an ambassador, having them host its show at Paris Fashion Week and wear its designs during awards season. This stardom, visibility and perceived acceptance are a huge step forward, but it’s something Moore has been working toward through their entire life and career. “I don’t know how to have fun, I don’t know what my favorite restaurant [is],” they said. “When I’m around people having conversations about their day, I’m looking at them, like, ‘What could they possibly be talking about? How are not talking about deconstructing white supremacy right now? How are we not trying to save trans people?’ I don’t know who I am outside of someone who’s just trying to be free and find safety for myself and for others.” Zoey Grossman Indya Moore for Elle. That work has garnered them over 200,000 Instagram followers and a platform to help their fans and followers feel less alone ― the way they told Elle they felt throughout their life. Moore, who entered the foster care system at 14, had left and become homeless when they auditioned for and was consequently offered a role on “Pose.” “I knew I had a chance to teach the world something that would help more people to be safe,” they told the mag. With a major fashion magazine cover, a second season of their television show to come and seemingly endless opportunity on the horizon, Moore is sure to keep teaching ― and inspiring ― many. Read the entire interview on Elle, which hits newsstands May 21.<doc-sep>Screenshot : Zoey Grossman ( Elle/Hachette Filipacchi ) FX’s Pose broke barriers when it debuted last year; co-created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, it was the first network television show to feature a predominantly transgender cast. Equally genderqueer is its writers’ room, including luminaries like Janet Mock and Our Lady J—both of whom also serve as producers on the Golden Globe-nominated series. Advertisement But if there is a breakout star of Pose’s ensemble cast, it’s Indya Moore, who heart-wrenchingly brings the beloved character Angel to life, infusing what might have become a stereotypical sex worker’s narrative with grace, vulnerability and hopeless romanticism. Now, Moore breaks new ground as the first transgender person to grace the cover of Elle magazine. For those who may take issue with the fact that we point out Moore’s gender identity, it’s a major component of their strikingly transparent cover story in the June issue, which opens with a midnight trip to the pharmacy for hormones. (Note: Moore typically opts for they/them pronouns, but agreed to be referred to as she/her for Elle’s story .) “It’s like my whole life I’ve been doing this, you know. It’s not a big deal,” Moore tells writer Jada Yuan. “It’ll be 10 years next year.” In those 10 years since Moore initially left her mother’s home in the South Bronx and entered foster care, they have seen more of the dark underbelly of life than most of us could possibly imagine. As statistics sadly show, trauma is a regularity in the lives of trans women of color, who are consistently under threat—Moore even describes a suicide attempt during their time in a group home, concluding the story simply by saying: “I survived.” Advertisement With Pose premiering its second season on June 9, and Moore is now a role model and an IMG model, starring in campaigns for Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein , among others. I t’s thrilling to see them not only surviving but thriving—and inspiring and advocating for others in the process. “It feels like this is the first time that we are seeing a trans woman being celebrated for all the different parts of herself,” Janet Mock says of Moore in the cover story. “She’s the embodiment of our dream girl. She’s living the fantasy that all of us hoped and dreamed for, that we fought to build little by little so that someone like Indya Moore could be the center of a show, be the center of fashion campaigns, be on a magazine cover.” Advertisement Of their almost instantaneous leap from homelessness to a starring role on a hit show, Moore says. “I just knew my life was going to change ... I knew I had a chance to teach the world something that would help more people to be safe.” Advertisement And though the absolutely adorable video that accompanies their cover story shows off both Moore’s beauty and deft comedic skills, as they tell the magazine, it’s liberation that remains at the forefront of her mind. “I don’t know how to have fun,” they say . “When I’m around people having conversations about their day, I’m looking at them, like, ‘What could they possibly be talking about? How are we not talking about deconstructing white supremacy right now? How are we not trying to save trans people?’” They continue , “I don’t know who I am outside of someone who’s just trying to be free and find safety for myself and for others.” The Glow Up tip: The June issue of Elle magazine, starring Indya Moore, is available now. Pose returns to FX at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 9.<doc-sep>
Actor and model Indya Moore has made history by becoming the first transgender woman to appear on the cover of Elle USA, the world lifestyle magazine that covers fashion and entertainment. "Thank you for having me as your first experience covering a trans person," Moore, who also identified as nonbinary, said on Twitter last week. "I know I will not be the last. So excited to see Elle leverage their platform to help other talent of trans xp find visibility, & the safe space to be acknowledged & vulnerable in this powerful way." Thank you for having me as your first experience covering a trans person. I know I will not be the last. so excited to see Elle leverage their platform to help other talent of trans xp find visibility, & the safe space to be acknowledged & vulnerable in this powerful way. https://t.co/W8BrD5Id4N — IAM (@IndyaMoore) May 9, 2019 ADVERTISEMENT Elle Magazine's Brazil and United Kingdom publications featured a trans person on their covers in 2016, BuzzFeed News reported. Moore's appearance on the Elle USA cover came as part of a feature story about the 24-year-old that focuses on, among other things, Moore's childhood and her entry into the foster system at 14. "A lot of times, when parents overdiscipline their children, especially when they’re queer, their intention isn’t to hurt them," Moore told Elle. "They think they’re saving their children from harm. But they don’t realize that they’re causing harm, that they’re doing to their kids exactly what they’re afraid of the world doing to them." Moore also discussed being the victim of sex trafficking as a teenager, when she said she was offered money for hormone therapy in exchange for sex. In addition, the profile chronicles Moore's path to receiving a part on the FX series "Pose." “I just knew my life was going to change,” she said. “I knew I had a chance to teach the world something that would help more people to be safe.