Loud and Proud | ELLE
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00:00 It's bigger than me.
00:02 I'm setting up for the younger generation of trans women and men.
00:06 If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it, and I'm going to be a leader.
00:12 My name is Justine Simone Lindsey, and this is my second year as a Top Cat.
00:17 I've always just had a fascination for dance.
00:20 When I first saw the Alvin Ailey Dance Company perform "Revelations," that really just made
00:26 me want to do it.
00:27 Just seeing a lot of people that look like me, it really stuck to me and just really
00:31 made me feel like, "Dang, I could do that also."
00:36 I was born in Charlotte.
00:37 I started dancing when I was really young, five or six years old.
00:41 But I think just being trans in the South, we don't really have a lot of resources that
00:46 I think a lot of the young girls from Atlanta, New York, LA have.
00:51 So it's kind of tough for us.
00:53 When I first started dance, I was around people who were just open and just carefree as far
00:59 as being who they are.
01:00 That was at a time when I was just figuring out who I was.
01:04 And as you get older and you start to kind of come into your own, I think that's when
01:10 the questions start to be like, "Okay, who am I in this world?"
01:13 But dance also played a huge part in that.
01:21 I was in high school getting ready to go off to college.
01:23 When I started transitioning, my mom, my grandmother, my family, they were very supportive.
01:30 As long as I had the support from the man upstairs and my family, then that just exited
01:36 out anybody else who questioned who I was.
01:48 I literally told my mom, "Hey, listen, I want to try out for the team."
01:52 And she was like, "You sure you want to do it?"
01:54 And I was like, "I mean, hey, what else do I have to lose?"
01:59 My mom is like a very big support, but she was like, "Hey, go out.
02:03 If you don't make it, hey, that's okay.
02:05 But if you do, then you know what you have to do."
02:10 My first year audition was okay.
02:12 I was a little nervous because I knew that no one looked like me.
02:16 And so I had to stand out, but I had to stand out for the right reasons.
02:19 We don't judge beauty.
02:21 We don't have like a swimsuit portion or an attire portion.
02:25 Can you dance?
02:26 Can you do the choreography I gave you?
02:27 Do you have the technique?
02:29 Do you have the talent?
02:30 So I was literally walking into the doors, just focused, zoned in, didn't talk to anyone,
02:36 and then just learning choreography.
02:38 It was hard, I'm not going to lie.
02:41 When Justine walked in for her rookie season audition, she had a shaved head.
02:46 She had so much confidence and she had all of this light surrounding her.
02:49 You could just tell that she was happy to be in the space with other dancers.
02:53 She didn't pick Justine because she was transgender.
02:55 She picked Justine because she's a phenomenal athlete and she's stunning.
03:02 I think some of the people on the team now did not know that I was trans.
03:07 So I was just like, "You know what?
03:09 It's bigger than me.
03:10 I'm setting up for the younger generation of trans women and men."
03:15 I literally just posted it on Instagram and then from there, the love and the hate came
03:20 with it.
03:21 But the love outweighed the hate.
03:22 And I think after we had our first practice, it was like an open conversation if someone
03:28 wanted to ask me a question.
03:30 But it wasn't like a topic of discussion.
03:32 It was more so of like, "Hey, we see you as a person.
03:35 We don't see you as Justine, the trans person.
03:39 No.
03:40 We just see you as a dancer, as a human being."
03:43 I wholeheartedly wish that I could in and tell you that on game day, all of the fans
03:51 celebrate Justine, but that's not 100% the case.
03:54 I remember reading a comment.
03:56 Somebody was saying, "Are they going to put her in a dress?
03:58 Are they going to put her in pants?"
04:00 The organization put her on the team because if not, she was going to sue them.
04:05 It really made me want to say or like clap back.
04:08 But then I was like, "You know what?
04:09 I can't do it."
04:10 At the end of the day, I have teammates who can be affected by what I say.
04:14 Like, how brave do you have to be to step out of your comfort zone and say, "You know
04:20 what?
04:21 I'm going to chase my dreams no matter what anybody else thinks."
04:24 There's a lot of people that if it doesn't fit into a box, they have a hard time understanding
04:28 it.
04:29 It doesn't matter what it is.
04:30 It's not just in the situation of Justine.
04:31 It's a lot of things.
04:32 I think just as an NFL cheer team, we don't fit in the box.
04:36 I think that because I got the backing from my teammates and my mom and everyone else
04:41 in my family, at the end of the day, I know that I'm not a mistake.
04:44 I'm here for a reason.
04:50 There is no other safe space like this.
04:54 It can't be duplicated.
04:55 It can't be replicated.
04:56 So for that to be the one and only space in the NFL, it is slowly but surely transforming
05:02 the industry as a whole.
05:03 I think there's a huge lack of representation in an NFL cheer.
05:07 I think that we have a stereotype of what an NFL cheerleader is, and it's truly not
05:13 the case.
05:14 Justine has been an amazing addition to the squad.
05:17 She has challenged herself.
05:19 She has challenged me.
05:20 She has spread a lot of joy and love just in the community.
05:24 If you have a goal, go for it.
05:26 Turn that dream into a reality and be an NFL cheerleader, right?
05:31 Or a doctor or a nurse or whatever you set your mind to.
05:34 Your big sister got your back.
05:36 [MUSIC]
05:44 [MUSIC]