Leyna Bloom

Leyna Bloom is a transgender model, dancer, actor, and activist. Born in Chicago to a Filipina mother and an African American father, Bloom knew from a young age that she was a woman. Bloom faced a turbulent childhood and was raised by her father following her mother's deportation. Fortunately, he supported her decision to transition. A versatile dancer, Bloom is trained in ballet, lyrical, hip hop, jazz modern, tap, and vogue. She took her first dance classes in sixth grade, and performed on the American Ballet Theater stage with Misty Copeland by the age of 14. She received a full dance scholarship to the Chicago Academy for the Arts as a teenager, however, in spite of this early promise and opportunity, she chose to give up on a traditional path to pursue her authentic self. After dropping out of the Academy because the men's scholarship did not allow her to dance as a woman, she left Chicago and moved to New York City, where she faced homelessness. Bloom survived by working at a