A Quick Bite with Angelica Torres
Angelica Torres is a passionate and driven LGBTQIA+ model, actress and activist hailing from New York City. Angelica is a proud alumni of the nation's first fully accredited LGBTQ high school, The Harvery Milk High School. She is a mental health advocate, sexual assault & homelessness survivor.
She has appeared on several television shows and networks such as 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', MSNBC, 'America's Next Top Model' and most recently 'Pose' Season 2 on FX. She's also booked beauty campaigns for brands like Erno Laszlo and Bawdy Beauty.
Angelica has made it her mission to further educate the world on the issues that plague the LGBTQIA+ community, with a focus on issues that effect trans women of color and other marginalized groups.
Learn more about Angelica and see her feature on VideoOut here.
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What is your favorite “bite”? It's in no way fancy, but I LOVE carne guisada (otherwise known as Latin beef stew). It's such a hearty, savory dish that is evocative of Latinx flavor and culture. Carne guisada was my favorite meal growing up and I still prepare it myself to this day. It just makes you feel warm, toasty and has a nicely seasoned kick that dances on your tastebuds. How did you “shake” the industry? I shake the world by showing up as my authentic self every single day as an unapologetic Latina trans female. My very presence on this Earth shakes society because womxn like myself are not supposed to exist (by societal standards). Trans people, especially Black & Brown trans womxn, are consistently murdered in cold blood by cis men who are so stifled by fragile masculinity and their frail egos that they slaughter us simply for walking by them on the streets. Cis womxn abuse and publicly deride us while denying us basic human rights while laughing at us when we're being taunted. Both cis men and womxn also mock cis men for being attracted to trans womxn which only further fans the flames of violence and rage against us. The average life expectancy for trans womxn of color is 35 years old....I'm now 34. The gravity of that reality is not lost on me. So I continue to ask questions like "Why do you hate us so much? Where does this hatred stem for? Should the humanity of trans people really effect you to this extent, or in any way?" I instruct those that continue to demoralize us to instead check their biases. So by living in my truth, by standing my ground and continuing to be an advocate for my community I'd venture to say that is an act of rebellion. That is how I shake the world. What is the first adjective you think of when you think of your butt? Plump! What does unapologetic mean to you? To be unapologetic is to defy all odds stacked against you. I was raised with the expectation that I should be ashamed of myself for being feminine, for having a womxn's heart and soul. In essence, that I should hate myself. I did hate myself and I was ashamed for most of my life...most days I still feel the sting of the abuse I endured. But I soldier on. Still I rise. I fight to create spaces for my trans siblings because we are deserving of being seen, heard, loved and uplifted. In the face of adversity, I still show up as all that I am whether people like it or not. To be unapologetic is to say "I hear that you don't like me, however, I'm not fucking going anywhere! So get over it and get used to it!" |
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