'Pose' Star Indya Moore: Parents 'Didn't Trust Anyone Who Supported Me For My Queer Identity'
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | September 26, 2019
Pose star Indya Moore, who uses the pronouns they/them, says that their parents cut them from people who supported their queer identity.
Moore, who plays Angel Evangelista, a transgender woman sex worker, on FX's Pose, spoke with i-D for a feature appearing in its “The Post Truth Truth Issue.”
In the interview, Moore said that their parents, practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, attempted to alter their child's sexuality.
“I don’t really remember having any friends at 14 years old, and I didn’t have that much freedom either,” Moore said. “I came out to my mom at that age, and our relationship shifted drastically. She told me it wasn’t normal to be gay and suggested taking me to the Kingdom Hall to meet with a few elders – one of them apparently 'used' to be gay – to initiate a form of conversion therapy.”
“I always felt uncomfortable and angry when I was younger. My mom didn’t support me then, but as a display of affection, she did take me to Dunkin’ Donuts after I told her about my sexuality. But I experienced a lot of violence and started getting into a lot of fights at school too. I felt safe around my sister, but when she got married, I didn’t get to go to her wedding or see her often because she supported me for my queerness.”
“At 16, I started hormonal therapy and started to feel better about my body. At the time, my parent-teacher coordinator was my escape from all the bullshit; the one who helped me find both the safety and the maternal support I longed for. She was everything! She celebrated my identity, introduced me to voguing, wrote poetry with me and took me to my first Pride, but my parents eventually cut me off from her. They didn’t trust anyone who supported me for my queer identity.”
“I couldn't have a relationship with my family, with friends or with other kids. I couldn't build friendships because I never got to hang out with anybody who supported me,” Moore added.