Justice Smith Comes Out, Calls For Queer Inclusion in the Revolution

Justice Smith has come out as queer with an eloquent and passionate call for people supporting Black Lives Matter to be inclusive of queer and trans Black lives, as well.

The Jurassic Park and Detective Pikachu actor shared a video from a recent protest he attended in New Orleans along with his boyfriend, actor Nicholas Ashe. It was the first time the two had publicly acknowledged their relationship, and the first time Smith acknowledged being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Smith’s decision to come out to the public seems to have been inspired by the refusal of some people at the protest to chant along during declarations that trans and queer Black lives matter, something he said disappointed him as a Black queer man.

"I want to reiterate this sentiment: if your revolution does not include Black Queer voices, it is anti-Black," he said. "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."

Smith went on to say that the revolution requires demanding the equality that Black, queer, and trans individuals have always deserved, rather than simply appealing to those who have profited off an unequal system in hopes that they’ll share.

He also gave a shout out to Ashe, who he called his "rock and guiding light through all of this."