Justice Smith comes out as queer in a powerful post amid BLM protests in the US

• Justice Smith has shown his support for black queer lives and black trans lives in his latest post on Instagram.
• "If your revolution does not include black queer voices, it is anti-black," he wrote in a powerful post, sharing a video from a recent march he attended.
• The actor also revealed that he is a proud black queer man, before making his relationship with actor Nicholas Ashe public.

Justice Smith took to Instagram over the weekend to come out as queer and show his solidarity for black queer lives and black trans lives.

The All The Bright Places star wrote: "@nckash and I protested today in New Orleans. 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.

"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."

Along with his powerful words, the 24-year-old shared a video from the march as well as a few adorable photos with actor Nicholas Ashe.

He wrote with the hashtags "#blackboyjoy #blacklove #blackqueerlove" revealing their relationship: "You've been my rock and guiding light through all of this and I love you so much. I know that on the other side of this is change, though the fight is far from over."

SEE THE POST HERE:

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@nckash and I protested today in New Orleans. 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. 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. There is so much tragedy on the timeline these last couple of days so I added some photos of me and Nic to show some #blackboyjoy #blacklove #blackqueerlove ???????????? You’ve been my rock and guiding light through all of this and I love you so much. I know that on the other side of this Is change, though the fight is far from over. #justicefortonymcdade #justiceforninapop #justiceforgeorgefloyd #justiceforahmaud #justiceforbreonna #sayhername #defundthepolice #endwhitesupremacy

A post shared by Justice Smith (@standup4justice) on Jun 5, 2020 at 8:37pm PDT

The Pokemon: Detective Pikachu star's post comes during Pride Month and amid Black Lives Matter protests in the US following the murder of George Floyd, which has seen many celebs take to the streets in solidarity.

Kanye West, Keke Palmer, Kendrick Sampson and Michael B Jordan have all marched with citizens demanding change.