Leyna Bloom makes historical past as Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit Challenge’s first transgender cowl mannequin
Leyna Bloom has develop into the primary transgender cowl star for the Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit Challenge. The 27-year-old mannequin and actress made her Sports activities Illustrated debut on Monday, calling the duvet a “highly effective” second that she devoted to the ballroom queens of previous, current and future.
“This second heals a variety of ache on the planet,” Bloom mentioned in an Instagram submit on Monday. “We deserve this second; we’ve got waited hundreds of thousands of years to point out up as survivors and be seen as full people full of surprise.”
“I’ve dreamt 1,000,000 lovely goals, however for women like me, most goals are simply fanciful hopes in a world that usually erases and omits our historical past and even existence. This second is so highly effective as a result of it permits me to dwell eternally even after my bodily type is gone. Not lots of people get to dwell sooner or later, so at this second, I am proudly selecting to dwell eternally.”
Bloom additionally took to Twitter on Monday to have a good time being one of many three black ladies on the 2021 cowl.
In March, Bloom grew to become the primary transgender girl of shade and simply the second transgender mannequin to ever be featured within the Swimsuit Challenge. Bloom was then introduced as one of many cowl stars in July, alongside rapper Megan Thee Stallion and tennis star Naomi Osaka.
Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit Challenge editor-in-chief MJ Day referred to as Bloom’s cowl a “end result of our highly effective neighborhood coming collectively,” and mentioned the journal was thrilled to assist share her story.
“Leyna is famous on the planet of activism, strikingly attractive, and has an simple sense of self that shines via the minute she walks on set,” Day mentioned. “Her story represents one grounded in resilience, and we could not be extra thrilled to assist her inform it. Her presence as the primary trans girl of shade to be in our situation is a results of her lifetime dedication to forging her personal path.”
Along with her modeling profession, Bloom can be an actress. The Chicago native appeared within the closing season of FX’s “Pose” and likewise starred in “Asking For It,” which premiered on the 2021 Tribeca Movie Pageant. In 2019, she grew to become the primary transgender girl of shade to have a number one function in film featured on the Cannes Movie Pageant.
