By Viviane Faver

 Leyna Bloom, from Chicago, is featured on the pages of the 2021 edition of Sports Illustrated, becoming the first black Asian transgender model to appear in the magazine. She follows Valentina Sampaio, whom last year became Sports Illustrated’s first transgender swimsuit model.  

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The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue’s pictorial edition is perhaps Bloom’s most significant achievement, but her career has been on the rise for some time.  In 2017, she became one of the first openly transgender models on the New York Fashion Week runway. She made her acting debut in Danielle Lessovitz’s “Port Authority,” which debuted at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Earlier this year, she appeared in a Levi’s campaign that also featured Naomi Osaka. Making those dreams come true, however, was not easy. She was also open about the personal struggles she faced along the way. As a child, she was raped and also went through periods of homelessness during her childhood.

 Speaking to HuffPost in 2018, Bloom said she was determined to use her visibility and voice to bring fundamental changes to the fashion industry. “We are no longer in that time zone that, if you speak up, will be blacklisted. Everyone can speak louder,” she said. “We need more people here saying that this is what I want and deserve. Respect me, don’t fetish me, protect me. I think this is where it all starts. “