Leyna Bloom wants you to see her — not just the curves she displays for the camera but the firm sense of purpose under her skin.
She is about to get her wish on an unlikely stage: as the first transgender woman of color to be featured in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
The occasion is a pivot point. In enlisting Ms. Bloom, who is Black and Filipino, Sports Illustrated intends to signal a continuing engagement with social issues. (It featured another transgender model, Valentina Sampaio, last year.) For Ms.
Bloom, it is a platform for activism and, with it, representation for her less visible, often embattled trans sisterhood. It is also a new phase in a journey that has taken her from the predominantly Black South Side of Chicago, to.