Billy Porter Calls Out "White, Cisgender, Rich Boys" in Latest Interview

Ryan Murphy's FX series Pose has shaken the world. Never has a series not only depicted the lives of -- but also casted -- as many transgender individuals of color before. The series, which was also the first ever to have an episode both directed and written by a transgender woman of color, tackles issues surrounding race, transgender identity, and HIV/AIDS.

Grammy and Tony award-winning artist Billy Porter, who plays ball emcee Pray Tell, continued to discuss issues of racism and transphobia in the gay community in a recent interview with Vulture.

Porter said:

"As a 48-year-old gay man, when I came out, we had to fight for our lives. Because the fight was so intense -- and this is what this show has taught me -- the T in LGBTQ was almost invisible. The fight was about something else. I equate it to the idea of the civil rights movement, and Martin Luther King Jr. and his relationship with Bayard Rustin. He was the gay man that taught him and set him up to be the civil rights leader that he was, and was erased from the conversation because that wasn't the fight."

Similar to how gay individuals were both dismissed and erased decades ago, Porter believes that transgender people are currently being thrown to the wayside.

"I sat on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda for six years, and that's an organization that really was influential in lobbying and fighting for gay rights, during the AIDS crisis all the way up through marriage equality. When these white, cisgender, rich boys got marriage equality and the organization's focus turned to transgender rights, those motherfuckers closed their checkbooks, and the organization of 25 years had to close."

Porter continued that we aren't simply the gay community; we are the LGBTQ community. We should be looking out for and uplifting one another -- especially the most marginalized of us.

"If we don't take care of the least among us, it doesn't matter how rich we are, it doesn't matter how fabulous we are. It doesn't matter. If you're neglecting your citizens, you are inhumane. The end."