Activist Leyna Bloom is the first transgender cover model in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue history. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo
July 19 (UPI) -- Sports Illustrated revealed tennis star Naomi Osaka as one of three cover models for its annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue Monday. Osaka is the first Black athlete to land on the cover of the edition.
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion and model Leyna Bloom also will appear on separate covers of the magazine, which goes on sale Thursday.
"I'm so proud to be the first Japanese and Haitian woman to grace one of the covers," Osaka said in a video posted by Sports Illustrated. "I feel like that multicultural background is present in all of the things that I do."
Megan Thee Stallion is the first rapper to make the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Bloom is the first transgender cover model for the issue. The theme of the issue is: "Opening Eyes, Speaking Truths and Changing Minds."
"She's spent her formative years racking up titles and is headed to the Olympics. But we celebrate Naomi for her passion, strength and power geared towards consistently breaking barriers when it comes to equality, social justice, and mental health."
Osaka, 23, dropped out of the French Open in May due to mental health concerns. She hasn't played since, but plans to return to the court and compete for Japan at the postponed 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
The four-time Grand Slam champion also was named one of the Sports Illustrated Sportspersons of the Year in December for her activism.
"What drew us to Naomi was her passion, strength and power geared toward consistently breaking barriers when it comes to equality, social justice and mental health," Day said.
"She is wholeheartedly dedicated to achieving the impossible and has succeeded time and again. We are so honored to have one of the fiercest female trailblazers in history as one of our 2021 covers."
Former cover models Olivia Culpo, Camille Kostek and Danielle Herrington also are among the 25 women featured in the issue.
Leyna Bloom is Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue’s first trans cover star
Model, who is black and Filipino, is also the first ever trans woman of color to be featured in the magazine
Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue has unveiled its first ever transgender cover star, Leyna Bloom.
The model follows in the footsteps of model Valentina Sampaio, who was the first trans model to appear in the pages of the magazine last July. Bloom, who is black and Filipino, is also the first ever trans woman of color to be featured in the magazine.
Writing on Instagram, Bloom said the appearance “heals a lot of pain”. She wrote: “We deserve this moment; we have waited millions of years to show up as survivors and be seen as full humans filled with wonder.”
Bloom, who was part of New York’s ballroom scene, wrote: “This historical moment is important to #girlslikeus because it allows us to live and be seen.”
She added: “Many girls like us don’t have the chance to live our dreams, or to live long at all. I hope my cover empowers those, who are struggling to be seen, feel valued.”
Mere Abrams, co-founder of Urbody, the non-binary underwear company, said that they hope it will open doors for members of the trans community.
“I hope this sort of moment prompts other mainstream fashion brands to start paying attention to their responsibility in trans liberation and gender freedom,” Abrams said. “My long-term goal is for gender inclusivity to exist top to bottom and left to right in organisations, but I think that at first, we’ll see many first steps and one-off attempts that feel more surface level.”
Abrams said that the cover is much more than just a visual statement.
“[The] cover represents an important statement of trans inclusion at a moment when legislation and political movements are seeking to exclude transgender girls and women from cultural spaces that celebrate womanhood,” they said.
Bloom joins rapper Megan Thee Stallion and tennis player Naomi Osaka, who feature on three different covers of the Swimsuit Issue, themed “Opening eyes, speaking truths and changing minds”.
No comments:
Post a Comment