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Laith Ashley, a trans model, actor, activist, and singer who co-starred with Taylor Swift in the music video of the latter’s song Lavender Haze, has become the talk of the town for every right reason.
Many have heaped praise on Swift for the representation of the transgender community by casting Ashley in Lavender Haze. The 33-year-old singer-songwriter’s latest song is part of her 10th studio album Midnights. The song’s official video has garnered over 7.7 million views within just two days of its release.
While Taylor Swift fans are busy watching Lavender Haze, many are also curious about Laith Ashley, who has appeared on the covers of multiple fashion and lifestyle publications.
Taylor Swift’s co-star from Lavender Haze, Laith Ashley, is a renowned activist for transgenders
Laith Ashley was born a girl in a Dominican-American household in New York. During a past interview, the model mentioned being aware of “something different about himself” when he was four or five, but he only learned about the term transgender when he was 19.
Ashley grew up as a Christian and remained closeted for years because of his family’s religious beliefs. In another interview, Ashley also mentioned “praying his gay way” due to the conflicted views that he had because of his religion.
However, when Laith was 17, he finally came out as a homos*xual in front of his family after discovering his feelings for a girl. He never addressed himself as a lesbian and has admitted to disliking the term “lesbian,” despite believing that he was one.
As mentioned, Laith learned about his trans identity at 19 after coming across videos on YouTube about people like him documenting their transitions. Finally, he came out as a trans in November 2013 and started his transitioning process in January 2014 at 24.
Ashely chose Laith as a new name for his transgender identity and turned to work as an activist for LGBTQ+ homeless youth after studying psychology at Fairfield University in Connecticut.
After overcoming transphobia, Laith Ashley’s modeling career began in 2015, and he has since worked for various campaigns, including Barney and Calvin Klein. Ashley also instrumented history after becoming the first-ever transgender man featured in Diesel’s campaign.
Besides his modeling career, Laith Ashley has also worked as an actor and singer while appearing on multiple shows. His most recent project was Taylor Swift’s Lavender Haze, where he appeared as the 11-time Grammy-winning singer’s love interest.
For those unaware, Swift self-directed the Lavender Haze video released on January 27 on her YouTube channel. The Anti-Hero singer tweeted about the same while crediting Laith Ashley, with whom she “absolutely adored working.”
The trans model replied to the pop icon by thanking her on Twitter, as he wrote:
“Thank you so much @taylorswift13 for allowing me to play a small part in your story. You are brilliant and this is an experience I will never forget.”
In another tweet, Laith Ashley thanked Taylor Swift again by mentioning how he was “at a loss for words and was trying to gather himself and his thoughts” while also feeling grateful.
