Justice Smith comes out as queer and confirms relationship with his ‘guiding light’ Nicholas Ashe

Justice Smith has come out as queer with a powerful post about also supporting equality for black, queer and trans voices during Black Lives Matter protests. 

In addition to sharing a number of loved-up snaps with Nicholas Ashe, the 24-year-old Paper Towns actor confirmed their relationship by calling the Queen Sugar singer his ‘rock and guiding light.’ 

‘I love you so much. I know that on the other side of this is change, though the fight is far from over,’ he gushed in his Instagram caption with the hashtags #blackboyjoy, #blacklove and #blackqueerlove. 

In his post on Friday night, Smith shared footage from a protest in New Orleans and reflected on chanting ‘Black Trans Lives Matter,’ ‘Black Queer Lives Matter,’ and ‘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,’ he noted. 

He explained: ‘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,’ he slammed, explaining it is part of a conditioning to ‘get as close to whiteness, straightness, maleness as we can because that’s where the power is.’

He furthered: ‘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.’ 

Smith explained his decision to add some photos of himself and his beau was also to words lighten his fans’ timelines, which have been inundated with ‘so much tragedy.’ 

Smith has been a powerful voice on social media in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. 

The past week, he has posted petitions, links to fundraisers and information to demand justice for his fans. 

In his post, he also pointed to the case of Tony McDade, a black transgender man, who was shot and killed by a police officer on May 27 in north Florida, two days after George Floyd’s death.