Tiq Milan
Tiq Milan
Bronx, New York
Originally from Buffalo, New York, Tiq Milan moved to New York City 10 years ago to pursue a writing career and to become an integral part of the vibrant LGBT community. He did just that. A slam poet and activist for many years, he began his journey as a writer interning at Complex Magazine and Vibe Magazine. He then became a contributing music writer for the online publications Ballerstatus, Allhiphop and Sohh. He also has written for vibe.com and The Source magazine. A pop culture critic and journalist, prior to his transition, he was featured on the MTV reality show, I'm From Rolling Stone where he competed for a Contributing Editor position and he was the first “out black butch lesbian” on reality TV. He is currently the Editor in Chief of IKONS Magazine as well as a contributing writer at newsone.com.
Along with writing, working with young people has always been his passion. Tiq has been a tireless activist for LGBTQ youth. He does HIV prevention counseling at The Hetrick-Martin Institute and is a mentor to many young men on the LGBT spectrum. He was recently awarded the Most Dedicated Community Activist award by Black Transman Advocacy for his work with trans identified youth.
Tiq has also documented his transition in documentaries such as U People (nominated for Best documentary GLAAD award in 2007) and the Newfest short feature film Realness. He was also most recently featured on blackenterprise.com discussing being transgender. He also recently co-authored the chapter: "Outside Your Door: Queer Identities in Hip-Hop" in the soon to be published anthology, Fresh, Bold and So Def: Women in Hip-Hop Changing the Game.