Growing up queer is a journey. Everyone who has made it through has a story to tell. Whether it’s finally seeing someone they could look up to or being free in coming out and walking into your queerness.
With Pride Month sadly wrapping up, it’s necessary to allow everyone in the LGBTQ-plus community and beyond to celebrate being out, proud and living their lives like it’s golden despite a majority of society scoffing, scolding and straight-up rejecting their lifestyle.
When you look at the glitz and glamour of the cast of Pose, it’s hard to imagine the struggles they faced in their coming of age. But those struggles strengthened them, making them into the fullness of themselves today they told ESSENCE.
“Having watched television as a Black trans girl, I was always seeking and looking for images of myself and rarely, there were any. There were none that represented me in my totality,” Janet Mock, Pose’s writer, director and producer, shared.
She continued, “To be able to work on a show that centers that girl that I was and her journey, and to show that to all those little girls that are watching today, to let them know that number one, we see you, we got you and that forever and ever you’re deserving of taking up space in the world.”
At the red-carpet premiere for season two of Pose, ESSENCE also asked the cast to share their coming-of-age struggles and what they learned to help the next generation come into their queerness.
Check out the video above for their thoughtful advice.