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BTS: Angelica Ross Talks Finally Celebrating Pride During Cassius Digital Cover Shoot

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Angelica Ross for Cassius

Source: JD Barnes

When dictionaries are created and published going forward, the word “bold” should come with a picture of Angelica Ross. The actress best known for her captivating role as Candy on FX’s Pose series and activist who has forged a path for the LGBTQ+ community in the tech industry with her own business initiative sat down for a chat behind the scenes of her scintillating cover shoot as the star of Cassius’ Pride Month coverage.

Ms. Ross got to sit and talk about her favorite looks from the shoot, and also about her work towards Black liberation and showing the battle that still remains in fighting not just anti-Blackness even within the LGBTQ+ community but also transmisogyny. Not holding anything back, she points to her past experiences in observing Pride celebrations and how they ignored the trans community. But she also sees the changes and a powerful way forward.

“To be honest, [Pride Month] was not my holiday. It was just not something I felt like was for me as a trans woman,” she explained. “In every major city all I saw was white buff gays at the parade and that’s all the bars catered to. Meanwhile, as the parade is passing by, in the alley there’s a trans woman struggling, holding on to dear life.”

But Ross says there is now a shift and the concerns she mentions, like trans murders, are being addressed, and she can now fully embrace Pride Month.

“But now at least,” she added, “I start to feel actual pride in my community because we are learning, we are growing and we are learning that Pride is about protest, it is about power and Pride is a riot. Pride is about accountability. So now I can say that I enjoy celebrating pride.”

Check out the video in its entirety above.