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The former reality star shares their new pronouns while revealing a major "life update."
"Dance Mom" stars Zackery Torres returned to TikTok on Monday to share some big news: she's transitioning.
Torres was the first contestant on "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition" to be assigned male at birth, before joining "Dance Moms."
"Hi everyone, it's me Zackery Torres and you may know me from 'Dance Moms,'" Torres shared over the holiday weekend, just ahead of Pride Month. "I realized I haven't posted on TikTok anything of myself since like December and, life update, I'm transitioning!"
"That means I'm transgender, if you didn't know," Torres continued. "My pronouns are They/She, which means 'They' and 'She' are totally fine."
Torres promised to share more updates on TikTok in the future, captioning her post -- set to Dua Lipa's "Levitating" -- "LIFE UPDATE! #fyp #foryou #dancemoms #viral #update #clasof2021." She just graduated from USC last week.
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While this was Torres' first post about her transition on TikTok, she has been sharing more updates about it on Instagram.
On her birthday this year, Torres shared a number of photos from her childhood on social media, writing, "this is (and always was) Zackery Lennon Torres (they/she), a transgender, non-binary person🏳️🌈 thank you to everyone who has helped me feel loved and ready to be my full self at #22!"
She also wrote a bit more on Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2020, explaining that she uses her voice "when it shakes because I hope to empower the next generation like the ones before did for me." Torres then wrote about the importance of allyship, thanking everyone who "supported me through the years while I grew, and continue to grow, into who I am today."
"It's that unwavering support that gets me up in the morning when I am feeling defeated, and more importantly, it's what keeps me feeling empowered to advocate," she wrote. "I can only hope to demonstrate allyship to other communities who need me the way people have been allies to me. With that being said ... let's get to work!"
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According to an interview with USC's Daily Trojan, Torres first came out as non-binary during their sophomore year at the college. She explained that her time on "Ultimate Dance Competition" and "Dance Moms" really did a number on her.
"I started seeing all of the expectations that teachers — well-known dance teachers, and well-known choreographers — had for me as a male dancer growing up and at the time identifying as a boy," Torres told the publication. "'Oh, you're too feminine, you need to dance like a man.' Just having teachers tell you that on national television, all this stuff, it kind of really got to me."
"Everyone always talks about how inclusive the arts communities are," she added. "But I'm just not really feeling it. I'm not seeing it on an everyday scale."
During her time at USC, she pushed for more inclusivity and has been celebrated by staff for "advocating for this important change."
