Indya Moore Becomes First Transgender Person on the Cover of Elle

NOTE: An earlier version of this article referred to Indya Moore using she/her pronouns based on the Elle article's note that Moore okayed the use of 'she/her' for their article. After further consideration, the pronouns have been switched to those Moore generally prefers, which are they/them.

Pose star Indya Moore broke barriers this month when they became the first transgender person to be featured on the cover of Elle.

“I am so grateful for them- all the trans and gender non-conforming people who have attacked these walls, chipped and even broke part [off],” they wrote on Instagram.

In the cover story, Moore discusses the difficulties they had when they were younger trying to embrace their identity in a world that puts up so many roadblocks for trans youth.

“Because I was assigned male at birth, [my parents] expected me to be masculine or to perform the way they thought young boys should perform,” they said. “And I did not.”

Moore says the lack of understanding between them and their parents led to a stint in foster care at age 14, where they were first given hormones by a trans foster parent.

“I felt free. I felt attractive. I liked the way I looked in the mirror,” they said of trying the hormones for the first time.

But after their supply was cut off, a Facebook message from some people claiming to want to help them find the money to continue hormone therapy led to them to fall victim to sex trafficking.

“I stayed with them, and they had men come over and have sex with me,” Moore said. “They told me I needed to do it continuously so that I could afford hormones.”

It took several more years before Moore’s luck shifted, but now they don’t take a moment of their success for granted, using their platform and public image to try to make the world a better place for other marginalized people.

“I knew I had a chance to teach the world something that would help more people to be safe.”