A Salute to Black Trans Icon Janet Mock
Arguably one of the most visible black trans voices in America, Janet Mock continues to break glass ceilings every day as she expands her portfolio of work in Hollywood. Her most recent writing and directing for the groundbreaking FX series Pose has not only catapulted her to veritable superstardom, but she has also used her agency to hire and highlight multiple trans and queer artists of color on and off screen.
Mock lived for most of her youth in her native Hawaii, with portions in Oakland, California; and Dallas. She began her transition as a freshman in high school, and funded her medical transition by earning money as a sex worker in her teens.
Because sex work is real work and sometimes the only work available to our trans brothers and sisters.
Mock went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Merchandising from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2004 and a Master of Arts in Journalism from New York University in 2006.
She's written two bestselling memoirs, Redefining Realness (2014) and Surpassing Certainty (2017) about her journey as a trans woman. In 2019, Mock signed a historic multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, making her the first trans person to secure an overall deal with a major studio. That same year, she received Harvard University's Artist of the Year Award and was named on of The Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment Power 100" and included on Vanity Fair's "New Establishment" list -- adding to her Peabody Award, Television Academy Honors, two AFI Awards and Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for "Pose." Onscreen, she appeared in Jay-Z's music video for "Family Feud," directed by Ava DuVernay, and guest-starred in Alex Garland's FX on Hulu limited series, DEVS. She will make her feature directorial debut with the Netflix film "Janet" about Washington Post journalist Janet Cooke.
Janet Mock is an inspiration to us all and she’s only just getting started.
While you’re here, check out the latest episode of our podcast, “the family we choose.”
