The story of Leyna Bloom

Brut America

Actress, model and activist Leyna Bloom just made history as the first transgender woman of color to star in a Festival de Cannes film. This is her story.

Transcript

00:00You matter. Your ideas matter. Your dreams matter.

00:04Every aspect of your being on this earth is supposed to be here, and it has a purpose.

00:08And it's up to you to find the inner gifts inside you and spread them with the world.

00:25I wore flowers today because of my last name, Bloom.

00:29We start as a seed, and we grow, and we create a leaf, and we create another leaf.

00:35And then eventually, we blossom.

00:37And I thought that I saw that in my transition.

00:45I had a dream when I was very little that one day I would do something that was going to change the world.

00:51And it was going to be a historical moment.

00:58She told my dad, this is a very special one right here.

01:09This person is going to do something amazing in the world.

01:18He would tell me about people that paved the way for me to be here, like Maya Angelou, Dorothy Dandridge, Malcolm X.

01:26My dad was a military sergeant. He was born on the south side of Chicago in Chiraq City.

01:31So he grew up in a world where being transgender and being gay was just not the thing to do.

01:37It was not cool to be that, and there was a very taboo language about that.

01:41And when he had me as a child, he sees that this is his child.

01:45This child deserves love and support. It deserves opportunity as everyone else.

01:50He presented me in a world as something to be special.

01:54Look at yourself as being special, and the world will treat you as so.

01:57He was always there to support me as his child, and he's proud of me.

02:02And that's all that I always ask for.

02:10When I was young, he put all toys around us, and he says, play with whatever you want to play with.

02:15We don't care. And I have photos of my brother, who is a heterosexual man, playing with dolls.

02:20You know, there were no gender roles in our house.

02:25When I was a very young child, you know, watching television, watching movies,

02:31looking at fashion magazines, and you're not seeing yourself in them.

02:34You're not seeing your identity. You're not seeing yourself being represented.

02:47She was dealing with the same thing I was dealing with.

02:50She was dealing with the same thing I was dealing with.

02:53She felt that she was so different, and every time someone would see her,

02:57she would transform into something else, and I resonated with her.

03:07I always had some form of artistic expression around me to express myself,

03:11and it was part of my childhood to express myself and to get myself out there in the world,

03:16to be who I am, and to be surrounded by people that celebrate that.

03:47People would come up to me and they would say, wow, you're so different.

03:50Are you a boy? Are you a girl?

03:52It felt so good to have healthy competition and to be amongst people that are left out in society,

03:59and we all find our fantasy in this world, and I was so happy to have that find me.

04:17I knew that where I was going in the world, there were certain places that didn't accept me,

04:22but I didn't care about that.

04:23It was my purpose to walk into the room and just be who I am, because I knew I belonged there.

04:34I came to New York City when I was 17, and just like any aspiring artist,

04:38you go to that coast of New York City, and you arrive at port authorities,

04:41and you have this hope in mind that someone will see you, you will be discovered,

04:45and you hear these stories that it will happen.

04:47So I just took my little red suitcase and went all around the city,

04:52and hopefully someone saw me at a coffee shop or saw me on a bench or saw me on the train station

04:57and, you know, made sure I smiled at people.

05:01No agency in all America and some parts of Europe would not sign me.

05:06I would go to these agencies, and they would laugh at my face, and they would say,

05:09oh, you'll never make it, or your skin is too dark, your body's not shaped the right way,

05:14or, you know, you don't fit what we're looking for, and give up.

05:18Go back home to wherever you came from.

05:20So I needed that. I needed to hear that.

05:23I needed people to tell me that, because that's what I needed.

05:26So I needed that. I needed to hear that.

05:28I needed people to tell me that, because that added to my armor.

05:32They wouldn't sign me because I was black.

05:34They wouldn't sign me because I was a trans woman,

05:37or I was a person that was, in their mind, conflicting with their everyday conforming society.

05:57Growing up, that idea of seeing a trans woman on any mask and cover,

06:01let alone time, was non-existent.

06:04So to see that, that was just another door opening for us.

06:08There's so much history to be made in the world, especially for trans women.

06:27There's so much history to be made.

06:30And as a young child growing up in the world, I'm asking myself,

06:33why hasn't a trans woman been at Cannes?

06:36Why hasn't a trans woman won an Oscar?

06:37Why hasn't a trans woman been a producer?

06:40Why hasn't a trans woman been in Vogue,

06:41on the cover of Vogue,

06:43and all these big platforms in the world?

06:45You don't see my face.

06:46So I was like, that's history to be made,

06:48and I wanna make that history.

06:50I made it my responsibility to do these things,

06:53to be a part of these moments,

06:55and I made sure that I stay focused,

06:57I stay grounded, and I had a vision,

06:59and I made sacrifices.

07:01It's all about dedication.

07:03If I can do it, you can also.

07:04Why hasn't a trans woman won an Oscar?

07:06Why hasn't a trans woman been a producer?

07:08Why hasn't a trans woman been in Vogue,

07:10on the cover of Vogue,

07:11and all these big platforms in the world?

07:13You don't see my face.

07:15So I made sure that I stay focused,

07:18I stayed grounded, and I made sure that I stay grounded.

07:20I made sure that I stay grounded.

07:22I wanted to be here and to know that I've dreamed of this,

07:24and I've had this wanting, and I had this vision,

07:27that it will one day happen.

07:29It feels very beautiful.

07:31I knew it was gonna happen, and now it has,

07:34and now I can just say,

07:36there's still so much work to be done.

07:37["The First Noel"]

07:50There's a certain energy about a trans woman

07:54that only a trans woman can bring to the earth,

07:57and as lovely as it is that you wanna play it,

07:59that it would never really be authentic

08:02as much as it would if you saw a trans woman do it,

08:05and that's rewarding to our community,

08:07and when we see someone like that playing a role,

08:09another moment, another moment, another magazine cover,

08:12just don't fetishize us, protect us.

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