Out actor Billy Porter wore a velvet
tuxedo gown with a full train designed by Christian Siriano to the
2019 Academy Awards.
The 49-year-old Porter currently stars
on FX's Pose, the first scripted television series to include
a majority transgender cast. He's also played Lola in the Broadway
production of Kinky Boots.
“Shutting the carpet down in a
Siriano velvet tuxedo gown!” Porter tweeted.
In a separate tweet, Porter thanked
Siriano for “creating this custom couture masterpiece.”
Speaking with The Hollywood
Reporter, Porter said that the gown was an expression of his
sexuality.
“I wanted to take my power back from
when I was silent in the 90s about my sexuality and trying to be an
R&B recording artist,” he told the outlet. “You know, just
the silencing of my spirit, of my humanity almost took me out of
here. And one of my biggest things was finally embracing my feminine
side in public and in my career, vis-avis Kinky Boots.”
“And then you move on to Pose
and these transgender girls teach me what courage is, what
authenticity is, in the deepest way more than I have ever seen in my
life,” he
added.
Porter's stylist Sam Rattelle
previously told Page Six Style that wearing dresses at public
events was a form of protest for Porter.
“When [Porter] started wearing
dresses recently, that was very specific because of all the stuff
that was going on in the White House regarding transgender rights. We
started talking about it and we’re like, we have to start
representing these people because you have to normalize that somehow
publicly. There has to be visibility,” Rattelle
said.