- It's bigger than me.
I'm setting up for the younger generation
of trans women and men.
If I'm gonna do it,
I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna be a leader.
My name is Justine Simone Lindsay,
and this is my second year as a TopCat.
I've always just had a fascination for dance.
When I first saw the Alvin Ailey Dance Company
perform "Revelations,"
that really just made me want to do it.
Just seeing a lot of people that looked like me,
it really stuck to me,
and just really made me feel like,
"Dang, I could do that also."
I was born in Charlotte.
I started dancing when I was really young,
five or six years old.
But I think just being trans in the South,
we don't really have a lot of resources
that I think a lot of the young girls
like from Atlanta, New York, LA have.
So it was kind of tough for us.
When I first started dance,
I was around people who were just open
and just carefree as far as being who they are.
That was at a time when I was just figuring out who I was.
And as you get older,
and you start to kind of like come into your own,
I think that's when the questions start to be like,
"Okay, well, like who am I in this world?"
But dance also played a huge part in that.
(gentle music)
I was in high school, getting ready to go off to college.
When I started transitioning,
my Mom, my grandmother, my family,
like they're very supportive.
As long as I had the support
from the man upstairs and my family,
then that just exit out anybody else
who questioned who I was.
(gentle music)
So I literally told my Mom, I was like,
"Hey listen, I wanna try out for the team."
And she was like, "You sure you wanna do it?"
And I was like, "I mean, hey, what else I have to lose?"
My Mom is like a very big support.
But she was like,
"Hey, go out. If you don't make it, hey, that's okay.
But if you do, then you know what you have to do."
(gentle music)
My first-year audition was okay.
I was a little nervous
because I knew that no one looked like me
and so I had to stand out,
but I had to stand out for the right reasons.
- We don't judge beauty.
We don't have like a swimsuit portion or a attire portion.
Can you dance? Can you do the choreography I gave you?
Do you have the technique? Do you have the talent?
- So I was literally walking into the doors, just focused,
zoned in, didn't talk to anyone,
and then just learning choreography.
It was hard. I'm not gonna lie.
- When Justine walked in for her rookie season audition,
she had a shaved head.
She had so much confidence,
and she had all of this light surrounding her.
You could just tell that she was happy to be in the space
with other dancers.
- She didn't pick Justine because she was transgender.
She picked Justine 'cause she's a phenomenal athlete.
And she's stunning.
- I think some of the people on the team now
did not know that I was trans.
So I was just like,
"You know what? It's bigger than me."
I'm setting up for the younger generation
of trans women and men.
I literally just posted it on Instagram.
And then from there, the love and the hate came with it.
But the love outweighed the hate.
And I think after we had like our first practice,
it was like an open conversation,
if someone wanted to ask me a question.
But it wasn't like a topic of discussion.
It was more sort of like,
"Hey, we see you as a person.
We don't see you as Justine, the trans person. No.
We just see you as a dancer, as a human being."
- I wholeheartedly wish that I could end
and tell you that on game day,
all of the fans celebrate Justine.
But that's not 100% the case.
- I remember reading a comment, somebody was saying,
"Are they gonna put her in a dress?
Or they gonna put her in pants?
The organization put her on the team
because if not, she was gonna sue them."
It really made me wanna say or like clap back,
but then I was like,
"You know what? I can't do it."
Because at the end of the day,
I have teammates who can be affected by what I say.
- Like, how brave do you have to be
to step out of your comfort zone and say,
"You know what?
I'm gonna chase my dreams no matter
what anybody else thinks."
- There's a lot of people that if it doesn't fit into a box
they have a hard time understanding it.
It doesn't matter what it is.
It's not just in a situation of Justine.
It's a lot of things.
I think just as an NFL cheer team, we don't fit in the box.
- I think that because I got the backing from my teammates
and my Mom and everyone else in my family,
at the end of the day, I know that I'm not a mistake.
I'm here for a reason.
(upbeat music)
- There is no other safe space like this.
It can't be duplicated. It can't be replicated.
So for that to be the one and only space in the NFL,
it is slowly but surely transforming the industry
as a whole.
- I think there's a huge lack of representation
in an NFL cheer.
I think that we have a stereotype
of what an NFL cheerleader is.
And it's truly not the case.
Justine has been an amazing addition to this squad.
She has challenged herself, she has challenged me.
She has spread a lot of joy and love just in the community.
- If you have a goal, go for it.
Turn that dream into a reality.
And be an NFL cheerleader, right?
Or a doctor or a nurse or whatever you set your mind to.
Your big sister got your back.
(upbeat music)