June 7 (UPI) -- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Pokemon: Detective Pikachu star Justice Smith announced on Instagram this weekend that he is queer.
Smith wrote about his sexuality after attending a George Floyd protest in New Orleans with Queen Sugar actor Nicholas L. Ashe.
"We chanted 'Black Trans Lives Matter' 'Black Queer Lives Matter' 'All Black Lives Matter'. As a black queer man myself, I was disappointed to see certain people eager to say Black Lives Matter, but hold their tongue when Trans/Queer was added," Smith wrote.
"I want to reiterate this sentiment: if your revolution does not include Black Queer voices, it is anti-black. 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. But the revolution is not about appeal. It is about demanding what should have been given to us from the beginning. What should have been given to black, queer, and trans individuals from the beginning. Which is the right to exist. To live and prosper in public. Without fear of persecution or threat of violence."
After numerous media outlets ran stories about his post with headlines saying he came out as queer, Smith tweeted, "yo tf i didn't come out, y'all came in."
Floyd was a black man who died allegedly at the hands of a white police officer during an arrest last month. His death has sparked worldwide protests, demanding police reform and an end to racism.
