Transgender Pose actress Indya Moore stuns in topless shoot for V Magazine – as she recalls traumatic upbringing in a Jehovah’s Witness home where she was told it ‘wrong for her to exist’ as a queer person
- The 26-year-old star, who plays Angel Evangelista in the FX series Pose, covers the special re-edition of V129
- Shot in collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, the actress and campaign star poses in several of the designer’s outfits
- Inside, she opens up about growing up in a religious household where she was taught that it was ‘wrong for me to exist in the way that I do’
- She was ‘vilified’ and ‘disciplined frequently’ by her parents before entering foster care at age 14
- ‘I just knew that God would not be pleased or happy with the ways that I suffered because of what people thought they were doing in the name of God,’ she said
- It was ‘very hard,’ but her ‘spirit wanted change nevertheless,’ and her experiences now fuel her activism
Transgender actress Indya Moore covers the newest issue of V Magazine, posing in a series of Tommy Hilfiger outfits including suits, coats, and underwear — paired with a fanny pack for a bra.
The 26-year-old star, who plays Angel Evangelista in the FX series Pose, flaunted her fashion chops for the special re-edition of V129, but also took a serious turn in the accompanying interview, opening up about he abuse she suffered as a child and her crisis of faith in a religious upbringing.
Speaking to author Adrienne Maree Brown, Indya explained how she ‘chose peace and joy for myself at a very early point in my life,’ even after growing up in an ‘isolated’ Jehovah’s Witness home where she was taught that it was ‘wrong for me to exist in the way that I do.’
Ta-da! Transgender actress Indya Moore covers the newest issue of V Magazine, posing in a series of Tommy Hilfiger outfits
Bam! The 26-year-old star, who plays Angel Evangelista in the FX series Pose, flaunted her fashion chops for the special re-edition of V129
Interview: Speaking to author Adrienne Maree Brown, Indya explained how she ‘chose peace and joy for myself at a very early point in my life’
Indya, who uses the pronouns she/they, has opened up in the past about her traumatic upbringing with a a Puerto Rican Jehovah’s Witness teen mom and a Catholic father from the Dominican Republic.
She was punished frequently for presenting as female, though she was born male, and was constantly pressured to be more masculine.
‘I think every queer person goes through a time in their life where they’re at a crossroads of understanding queerness through a “right” and “wrong” kind of binary,’ she told V magazine.
‘It’s like, “Alright, is who I am wrong, or not? What is this? Because I’m getting so many messages.” It’s all very confusing. I know how I feel, but the world seems to continue to create messages that it’s wrong for me to exist in the way that I do and feel the way that I do.’
She particularly grappled with the juxtaposition of a loving God and a God who rejects certain types of people — like her.
‘I realized how stupid it was that we live in a world that just so heavily criminalizes queerness,’ she said. ‘It was spiritual. I was raised very Christian, my mom was a Jehovah’s Witness and my dad inherited Catholicism.
‘It was just really interesting to see myself process my own principles around myself and my own ethical grounding around myself, and realizing how stupid it is that spiritual bias exists.
‘It was just like, wow, how can we simultaneously create these teachings about God being such a loving person, but there seems to be character traits of who is spiritually eligible to access God?
‘So I realized how stupid that was, and I just knew that God would not be pleased or happy with the ways that I suffered because of what people thought they were doing in the name of God, or whatever excuse peoples used to create false harm and misery.
Even with her own changing understanding of God, Indya was still subjected to her parents’ ideas of religion, and says she was ‘vilified’ and ‘disciplined frequently’ for not fitting into their gendered expectations.’
Upbringing: Indya was still subjected to her parents’ ideas of religion, and says she was ‘vilified’ and ‘disciplined frequently’ for not fitting into their gendered expectations’
She asked, ‘How can we simultaneously create these teachings about God being such a loving person, but there seems to be character traits of who is spiritually eligible to access God?’
Speaking out: Her upbringing planted the seeds for her activism as an adult (pictured of FX’s Pose)
Positive: Ultimately, she made a choice to embrace ‘peace and joy for myself at a very early point in my life’
That planted the seeds for her later activism. Though Indya would move out of her parents home at age 14 and enter foster care, she continued to think about how gender differences could be discussed in a way to help people better understand them — and change society.
She still had more struggles to endure. She entered foster care ‘traumatized from abuse and PTSD,’ was misdiagnosed and medicates, and continued to live ‘in trauma soup all the time.’
Though she concedes that it was ‘very hard,’ she persevered, and said that her ‘spirit wanted change nevertheless.’
Ultimately, she made a choice to embrace ‘peace and joy for myself at a very early point in my life.’
‘It was corny for a lot of kids in school, the thought of peace and joy,’ she recalled. ‘But you know, for me, I was just like: why can’t I claim that for myself? Why isn’t peace something that I can say that I want for myself and other people?’
‘I was just like: why can’t I claim that for myself? Why isn’t peace something that I can say that I want for myself and other people?’ she said
Experience: Indya has previously modeled for Calvin Klein and Kason Wu. She has covered Elle magazine and ES Magazine and appeared in the 2020 Pirelli Calendar
‘I don’t ever try to hide my socio-political boundaries or standards, because they’re very important [in creating] greater safety for people like me,’ she said
Indya also discussed her work with designer Tommy Hilfiger, a brand that collaborated with V Magazine for her shoot, which was shot by Adrienne Raquel and styled by Anna Trevelyan.
She praised the designer for working with her and ‘seeing her,’ while not trying to change her or cover anything up.
‘I don’t ever try to hide my socio-political boundaries or standards, because they’re very important [in creating] greater safety for people like me,’ she said.
‘I made sure that my involvement in Tommy was as inclusive as possible, in every way that it could be,’ she added.
‘I made sure that the team was right, also making sure they’re hiring our folks behind [the scenes] and in front. I made sure that this is a project that is a continuum of something they’re actually working on, not just a moment.’
Indya has previously modeled for Calvin Klein and Kason Wu. She has covered Elle magazine and ES Magazine and appeared in the 2020 Pirelli Calendar.
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