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Twitter Reacts to 'Queen Sugar' Actor Coming Out as Transgender

Plus, he plays a trans character on the groundbreaking show.

OWN’s series Queen Sugar made a lot of headlines last night as Toine Wilkins, a newer character on the show, revealed that he was transgender during a heartfelt exchange on the show.

If that wasn’t enough, Brian Michael Smith, the actor who plays Toine, announced via NBC Out that he’s actually trans in real life.

  • "I've had really good experiences with my career so far," he said. "I started training professionally about six years ago, really learning the craft and being really dedicated to making a profession out of my desire to act, and I feel like this is one of the first roles that is really hitting my interests as an artist and as a person."

    As you can imagine, Twitter reacted swiftly, but most of it was positive; you know, how it should be.

    “Visibility is so important,” one user wrote. “Queen sugar has a canonically trans character played by an actual trans person,” another remarked, appreciating the fact that a trans actor was playing the role of a trans person.

    We applaud Smith for his bravery and talent! Check out the coming out scene and reaction to the news that Brian Smith is transgender below.

  • The Reveal scene

  • The reaction...

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