Empire Star Malik Yoba Admits Dating Trans Women, Receives a Torrent of Abuse

It’s incredibly rare for a man to admit that he dates transgender women, especially when they’re a renowned television and film star.

Such is the case of Malik Yoba, who has starred in features such as “Why did I Get Married,” and its sequel, as well as dozen of television shows including “Empire,” :Arrested Development,” and the upcoming adaptation of the hit film “The FIrst Wivs Club” took to his Instagram to defend men who date transgender women. What prompted Yoba’s disclosure was the recent suicide of Maurice Willoughby, who allegedly killed himself after enduring tremendous abuse from his peers for dating a transgender woman. Although it was later revealed that Willoughby took his own life after his girlfriend left him, as she reported that she was fearing for her own safety and felt he was already unstable.

Prior to the story of Willoughby further unfolding, Yoba used his social media to plead for the men who experience abuse at the hands of peers who relentlessly harass and bully them for breaking a socially imposed tradition of preserving one’s masculinity.