10 Facts About Indya Moore That Will Make You See Them in a Whole New Light

Indya was born to a Puerto Rican mother and Catholic immigrant father from the Dominican Republic who were both practicing Jehovah's Witnesses. As a child, Indya started acting in a way that their parents interpreted as traditionally "feminine," and they used punishment in an attempt to alter their child's sexuality. "Because I was assigned male at birth, they expected me to be masculine or to perform the way they thought young boys should perform," they explained in a May 2019 interview with Elle. "And I did not. They didn't understand." However, they learned to accept this as a lack of comprehension rather than cruelty. "They had never experienced what it was like to have a family member who was genderqueer," they added.

Before appearing as Dijon in the 2017 indie flick Saturday Church and then landing their breakout role in 2018 as Angel Evangelista in Pose, Indya had never taken a single acting lesson. "I never took acting classes, so I think my process was a lot more heady and method," they explained to Variety in June 2019 when asked how they got into character. "It was a lot of emotional and psychological work for me to place myself in the environment that she existed in, but when you step into a character, you live in them, and you live like them, for whatever the scene is or whatever story you're being called to tell."

Because of what they perceived as their parents' transphobia, Indya made the difficult decision to leave home at 14, eventually dropping out of school in tenth grade. After leaving home and entering the foster-care system, they went in and out of several foster homes and group homes, living in all five boroughs and facing plenty of abuse and discrimination. "My [birth] parents loved me dearly, but we were having issues with my identity being [recognised at home]," Indya told the New York Post in May 2018. "They thought I was essentially in harm's way because of the way I existed."

It was a foster parent who first allowed Indya to try hormone replacement therapy. The foster parent fortuitously happened to be a trans woman, and she let Indya try out hormone therapy using her own supply. "I remember not feeling as sad," Indya recounted to Elle. "I just felt more connected to my body. I felt free. I felt attractive. I liked the way I looked in the mirror." Unfortunately, when that foster parent cut Indya off from her supply, they were forced to use alternate means to get hormones, including trading sex with men for money.

After leaving school at 15, Indya broke into modelling, later earning their GED while simultaneously pursuing their professional career. Though they're interested in holistic medicine, being trans has given them a desire to learn more about the science that makes hormone replacement therapy possible. "I'm actually an aspiring biotech student," they revealed in an April 2017 interview with AFROPUNK, "but I don't really have the capacity to balance bills and school, considering the time I have to dedicate to acting and modelling. I dropped out in the 10th grade, got my GED, and went straight into working, so I'm looking to explore school again after I have my career stable."

Indya's parents may not have been able to understand their experience growing up, but 10 years after leaving home, their parents are now accepting and open to learning. "I'm so grateful to have parents who were committed to being in my life unconditionally and who realised that was important, regardless of their opinions on my life," they told the Evening Standard in October 2019. "Eventually my mother started using my pronouns, which were she/her at the time, and that made us so much closer. Now, I'm like, 'Ma, it's they/them now,' and she's like, 'Ah, make up your mind.' It's a little more complex for people who understand gender in very conventional ways, but I'm just grateful for her support."

Indya is very private about their romantic life, but they confirmed to the Evening Standard that they are seeing someone — a queer poet, songwriter and activist based in Chicago — and they've been together since January 2019. "I heard a song they were featured in and it was so beautiful, about their vision of what a world without violence and marginalization looked like," Indya explained. "Then I hit them up on Instagram, slid into the DMs. We were talking for about a year and a half before we actually met up and connected. They've really helped me to be grounded in my life right now and they've been really helping me to achieve my goals."