Speaking to a crowd in New York on
Tuesday, out actor Billy Porter said that FX's Pose was
changing the narrative for gay black men in Hollywood.
Porter stars as Pray Tell in director
Ryan Murphy's Pose.
Pose explores
New York's vibrant ball scene of the 1980s. It features
television's largest cast of transgender actors in series regular
roles and the largest LGBTQ cast ever for a scripted series,
according to FX. It was recently renewed for a third season.
Porter recently received an Emmy
nomination for his work on the series, making him the first openly
gay black man to be nominated for an Emmy.
Porter made his comments at the 92nd
Street Y, Page Six reported.
“You get used to being [cast as] the
funny friend,” he
told the crowd. “You get used to the industry cutting your dick
off because you’re a queen.”
“When we have these moments where we
can create a space that shows African-American men trying to figure
out how to love each other as opposed to how to kill each other,”
Porter said, “I am so grateful to be a part of what I see as the
change.”