“I’m not just trying to act as a trans woman in ballroom — I am a trans woman in ballroom playing a character,” she said. “It’s very real and it’s very raw and it means a lot to me, because I am in this moment representing the most marginalized community in the world. I was thinking of all the trans women that led this path for me to walk down: Octavia St. Laurent, Tanay Pendavis, Carmen Xtravaganza, Onjenae Milan. You may not know these names, but these are my heroes. These are women that paved the way for me to be here, and their dreams and their wants and their needs are breathing through me.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 19, 2019 19:07 UTC