Every day during the month of June, we will be spotlighting our 2022 Logo30. This powerful series profiles ordinary and extraordinary people who show pride in unique and provocative ways. Visit the Logo30 homepage to view current and past honorees.

By Athena Serrano

In the upcoming Batgirl movie, Ivory Aquino stars as Alysia Yeoh, the first major transgender character in DC Comics and mainstream comics media. The Filipina-American trans actress is here to show that Pride is all about being true to herself, even on screen.

Aquino appeared in cisgender parts until she landed the role of trans activist Cecilia Chung in the 2017 miniseries When We Rise. After, she came out publicly as a trans woman for the show’s press tour.

“It was terrifying because I really had no idea what would follow in the sense of ‘would I be able to continue acting?’” she says. “The unknown can be scary, but over the years I've learned to just embrace it.”

Aquino especially wants to see more opportunities for trans actors to play trans characters. “If you have a well-known actor playing a trans woman and accepts an award in front of millions of people standing up there as a cisgender man, what message does that send?” she says. “If there are men who find themselves attracted to trans women and find that as a threat to their masculinity because of what society has told them, and they feel the need to assert themselves to violence, which can lead to death, it’s not worth it for a cisgender male actor to play a trans woman. Until that is resolved, then let's have trans people play trans people.”

Get to know Aquino and the rest of our incredible 2022 Logo30 honorees in the video below.