Trans icon Kim Petras has earned many coveted titles in her illustrious career so far; pop princess, baguette b*tch, throat goat, to name a few. And now, she has a new one — covergirl.
Sports Illustrated recently announced Kim as one of the cover stars of their prestigious annual Swimsuit issue.
As if being a Grammy-Award winning artist and history maker wasn’t enough, Kim Petras is now adding SI Swimsuit COVER model to her list of accomplishments. https://t.co/ESSyOwdMJI
— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) May 15, 2023
The collaboration marks only the second time a trans woman has featured on the front page of the magazine, after model Leyna Bloom in 2021.
However, unlike in 2021 when times somehow seemed much simpler, tranphobes globally now feel emboldened enough to lambaster anything even vaguely suggestive of trans culture — and unfortunately, Kim Petty is no exception.
Sport news gone woke?
After sharing the iconic cover to their Twitter, the comment section of the Sports Illustrated post quickly drew transphobes and trolls like moths to a flame.
“You just took another job from a woman,” one commenter wrote under the post about a woman.
And for context, upwards of 60 cis women have previously featured on the cover previously.
“Lost the plot for the optics of ‘looking good’,” wrote another.
The vast majority of commeters, however, simply resorted to misgendering the pop superstar and calling her “mutilated”.
A ‘dream come true’ says Kim
But no amount of shade can dim Kim’s shining moment, which the singer herself recognises as “very iconic”:
“I was so excited when I got the call to be in Sports Illustrated,” Kim Petras told the publication. “It’s very iconic, and a lot of very iconic people have done it before, so [it was a] big dream come true for me.”
“It’s definitely a scary time to be transgender in America, but there’s also so much more representation than there’s ever been, and there’s so many things on the bright side,” Petras also told the magazine.
“I do feel a pressure sometimes to represent the trans community with everything I do, because I feel very blessed that I am at this point where I have all these amazing opportunities that I’ve worked really hard for and feel so happy when I hear from trans people in general that they’re inspired by me.”
The cover also coincides with Kim’s recent announcement of her debut album, ‘Feed the Beast’:
The story begins on June 23rd. Feed The Beast.https://t.co/kxDSOfP14x pic.twitter.com/gdo0TSDjGh
— kim petty (@kimpetras) May 15, 2023
“The story begins on June 23rd,” she shared to Twitter with a picture of a sword. “Feed the Beast.”
Sounds ominous! We can’t wait.
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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