Kenya Sterling, a trans actor who recently underwent surgery on his chest, had the experience of a lifetime last week when British artist Yungblud invited him to sing on stage during a concert. The singer, who was covered in a pink, white and blue trans Pride flag, handed his microphone to Sterling and allowed him to sing the chorus of his "Life On Mars?" hit along with the audience.
While taking the stage, Sterling also took the opportunity to show off his bare chest, which was covered by bandages after surgery, PinkNews reports.
“I’m nine days post-op,” he announced to the crowd.
Yungblud, who identifies as pansexual, later went to Instagram to share a video of the inspiring moment that unfolded on stage.
“There is life on mars. I’m so proud to belong to this family that shouts and screams in the name of equality, visibility, pride and love! Keep screaming everyday, I adore you all," the singer wrote.
Sterling may have gained a few more fans in the process.
“Everyone go show some love for [@abstractkid_] you’re a f**king legend!” Yungblud wrote as he gave a shoutout to the actor.
Sterling also went to social media to express his appreciation for the musician.
“The best night of my entire life. I got to sing and be on stage with @yungblud an amazing start to my birthday month,” he wrote. "Thank you for using your platform for visibility. I hope that if there was anyone in the crowd who needed to see trans joy got to finally see it."
Earlier this year, Sterling launched a GoFundMe page for his surgery.
"I've been on testosterone for three months and though it's super amazing and alleviating some aspects of dysphoria, it's left me with a hyper awareness of the things that it won't change," he wrote. "This means each day is getting harder and harder with dysphoria in relation to my chest. As a human who has borderline personality disorder I often struggle with mental health and chest dysphoria as of late has been making it 10x worse."
The 21-year-old said he needed the surgery to move forward in his life.
"It's all I think about, more so when the pain of my binder has been making my back pain increasingly worse," he wrote.
