Chella Man: the Jewish Chinese artist, deaf model, LGBT activist and DC superhero fighting coronavirus racism with a face mask
Chella Man models for Gap, American Eagle and Calvin Klein, plays DC Universe’s first deaf superhero Jericho in Titans, gives TEDx talks, documented his transition to 4.4 million viewers on YouTube … and now he’s taking on racism in America
The coronavirus outbreak has not only ended hundreds of thousands of lives and brought much of the world to a virtual standstill, it has also sparked an ugly rise in racism. In the US especially, Asians are living in fear as they face the prejudice of those who blame the coronavirus origins on China. Fanning the flames, President Donald Trump and his cabinet officials and advisers made matters worse when they insisted on calling it a “Chinese virus”.
Chella Man, a deaf, Jewish Chinese artist and model, who identifies as genderqueer/non-binary, is using his platform to combat oppression – powerfully employing a face mask to send a strong message. “Believing someone is infected based solely off their ethnicity is absurd, hurtful, and extremely racist,” he wrote on Instagram. Aside from harnessing his influence to hit back at xenophobia, what else has Chella Man done? Below are five things you need to know about the 21-year-old LGBTQ+ activist.
He documented his transition story on his YouTube channel
Chella Man launched his YouTube channel in May 2017 as a means of sharing his struggles with gender dysphoria and transition. At time of writing, Man had attracted 260,000 subscribers, and his transition video, One Year on Testosterone: Voice Updates garnered 4.4 million views.
On documenting his transition, he explained, “My hope is for this visibility to provide hope and motivation towards all who can see bits of themselves in my journey. I strive to be a transparent role model I wish I had as queer, deaf kid from a conservative town.”
He advocates gender issues
Chella Man is a cut above the rest among social media influencers. He uses his channel to educate and normalise conversations on gender identity for disabled and LGBTQ+ youth. He was also invited as a guest speaker in a TEDx Talk where he discussed trans-visibility.
He’s signed with IMG, one of the biggest modelling agencies in the world