after, she became the second trans woman of
color to be featured in an international edition of
Vogue—Vogue India—following in the footsteps of
Tracy Norman, a Black trans model who appeared
in Vogue Italia in 1975 and 2017.
By then the fashion world was taking real notice
of Bloom, and she was constantly flooded with
modeling requests. But an acting career also
beckoned. “I was looking for ways to tell my story
or tell stories of people I have looked up to,” she
explains. “I was looking for that right role, and then
the opportunity presented itself.”
That opportunity came when Bloom nabbed the
lead role in Port Authority, in which she plays Wye, a
transgender woman from the kiki scene (a subgenre
of ball culture), who meets Paul (played by Fionn
Whitehead), an ostensibly straight cisgender man. A
passionate romance develops between the two.
Written and directed by Danielle Lessovitz, the film
has been lauded by critics and was selected for the
Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes.
Once again Bloom turned heads, this time at the
movie’s premiere. Jari Jones, Bloom’s friend, acting
coach and an associate producer on the film,
recalled feeling the significance of the moment
when, during the cast and crew’s walk on the red
carpet, some of the film’s costars vogued in front of
the crowd. “The head of Cannes came up to us the
next day at a lunch,” Jones remembers. “He said,
‘I’ve been doing this for a long time, and this is a
huge weekend for photographers to make money. I
have never seen them put their cameras down and
applaud like they did after y’all performed.’ ”
In an increasingly inclusive world, Bloom is
confident that she will continue to break down
barriers that have plagued Black trans women. And
with hard-earned wisdom, she’s calling for people
to join her in this fight. “Everything that we want,
need and seek is inside of us,” she says. “We need
to find things inside us that we don’t see in the
world and then go out and create them. We are in
a world where we don’t fit in, so we need to create
one where we do. That’s our responsibility, the gift
we need to pass on.” ºRaquel Willis (@RaquelWillis) is a writer and
activist dedicated to elevating the voices of
transgender women of color.
EXCLUSIVE For more on this photo shoot, check
out our video coverage on ESSENCE.com/video.ESSENCE.COM I 134 I SEPTEMBER 2019