Indya Moore on how 'Pose' has helped destigmatise sex work

“I had internalised so much shame.”

“I had internalised so much shame, I felt really ashamed of having been a sex worker.” Source: Getty Images North America

Actress and activist Indya Moore has spoken out about their history in sex work, admitting that they once feared it would impact their acting career.

In an interview with UK newspaper, Evening Standard, Moore explained that their role as Angel, a trans sex worker, in groundbreaking FX series Pose had helped them overcome their own sense of internalised shame.

“It has really destigmatised sex work, not only for people watching the show, but for me, too,” they told journalist Jane Mulkerrins.

“I had internalised so much shame, I felt really ashamed of having been a sex worker.”

More continued, admitting that they once feared their history in sex work would impact their ability to land acting roles in Hollywood.

“It was something that I feared I would be outed for and that it would harm me,” they said, adding that having the freedom to discuss it openly since starring in Pose, which explores 1980s ballroom culture in New York City, was "really beautiful and liberating."

“I work in a place where people are really intentional about using their power and access to uplift creatives who are marginalised and would otherwise not be given a chance,” they said.

Moore has been a vocal activist for members of the trans community, breaking ground in their advocacy work and using their platform to highlight the epidemic of violence against trans women of colour in the United States.

Earlier this year, Moore made history by becoming the first trans person to speak on stage at the Essence Festival, held annually in New Orleans and Louisiana.

“I’m the first trans person to actually speak and loan my voice at Essence Fest,” Moore said during their keynote conversation with activist and sex educator Ericka Hart.

“I’m really honoured to be here and share a little bit of my experience with y’all because I think so many of us don’t have an opportunity to meet and understand trans and queer people if they don’t show up as our family, if they don’t show up as our friends.”

“I don’t identify as a woman. I don’t identify as a man,” Moore went on to explain.

“I don’t identify within the binaries of those things. My choice to identify as such, even though I typically express myself in feminine ways, is to constantly disrupt the notion of the gender construct.”