Janet Mock has long had a career in the media — perhaps best known as the director, writer, and producer on FX’s “Pose,” which she made history when she made history. was the first openly transgender woman of color to be hired as a screenwriter on any television show. Shows.
She’s also an outspoken advocate for people of weird color. This past May, in honor of APIA Heritage Month, she partnered with Diageo to host Blend Out by Diageo, a celebration to toasts cross-platform creators who refuse to mingle by expressing themselves as they really are.
In a year that has seen unprecedented anti-transgender legislation and violence, POPSUGAR is highlighting the views of transgender and non-binary people throughout Pride Month. These leaders are sharing how they protect their joy, reminiscing about gendered moments happinessand suggest how allies can support the LGBTQ+ community right now. Explore all of our coverage hereand read Mock’s story, in her own words, below.
I’ve written two memoirs – “Redefining Authenticity” and “Overcoming Certainty” – which tell of many moments of sexual excitement, but one of the first was to connect with a girlfriend. and sisterhood with my best friend, Wendi, with whom I grew up and transitioned across the halls of our high school in Hawaii. We are both mixed Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) transgender women and are able to explore, share, contrast, and expand our ideas about our bodies and gender in love. sisters – together.
The journey of self-love never ends.
We’ll sit and scroll through magazines like Vibe and Teen People, we’ll watch MTV together and mimic Destiny’s Child and all the vixens videos, we’ll feature CoverGirl and Wet n Wild cosmetics and shoot little sets, we would perform to the Spice Girls at school dances – we did everything! Having that community with another transgender sister is important to me – not only can I reflect in her, but I also know that I’m not alone. I am not alone, and that has been the foundation of my journey of self-confidence and self-love. I want that kind of shared experience for all young people, regardless of their gender or gender identity.
I feel deep love and appreciation for myself and my experiences every day. Some days are harder than others – me too, struggling with my image and body and with what people have to say and their limited expectations and beliefs. The journey to self-love never ends, and I want any transgender person reading this to know that after you’re “transgender,” we all still have to do our job of showing off and living our lives to the fullest. his truest and most authentic self. But I feel so proud of my journey and so grateful to my ancestors and elders who paved the way — from Marsha P. Johnson to Major Griffin-Gracy — and I feel so grateful for all of them. all the experiences I’ve had — euphoric and frustrating — because they brought me here, to a place where I can live my best life, grateful to have my breath, my heart, and my heart. a body to contain the abundance that I have.
All I have to say to those who don’t want us to exist: we do, baby.
When it comes to our current political climate, it’s important to remember that it has never been safe for transgender people to exist in our culture. We need that context – these attacks are not new. Take a look at the Compton Cafe protest and the Stonewall Uprising: transgender people are constantly being stared at and scrutinized by transgender people who are too scared to look deeply into themselves and even arrest them. began to question everything they had assumed about gender and sexuality. When you feel wrong and feel wrong, use your voice, influence, assets, and privileges to correct those wrongs. Don’t let any of that get in your way – your complacency is complicit.
For me and for my ancestors, my forebears and siblings who are fighting back and living their best lives today, just wake up, look in the mirror and fall in love with the reflection My life is an act of everyday rebellion, and yes, protest in a world and culture that puts goals behind my back just for the sake of being and being beautiful and strong.
And all I have to say to those who don’t want us to exist: we do, baby. And guess what: I know who I am; how about you now?
– As I told Lena Felton
