The couple posed for the gorgeous photoshoot for the journal’s January situation
(Image: ELLE UK/Meinke Klein)
Vogue mannequin Aweng Ade-Chuol has taken a stand in opposition to the homophobic abuse she obtained after getting married final yr, by showing on the quilt of Elle UK journal in a clinch along with her spouse.
The South Sudanese supermodel and nail artist Alexus posed for the gorgeous cowl as a part of a shoot for the journal’s January situation, which is on sale from at present.
Within the accompanying interview, Aweng spoke candidly in regards to the abuse and the impact it had on her psychological well being.
Set off warning: This text incorporates reference to suicide.
Similar-sex marriage has been constitutionally banned in South Sudan since 2011, and Aweng confronted extreme backlash from her group after her marriage ceremony in New York final December.
‘We acquired married and the entire world, actually the entire of my group, had been wishing that I handed, in a approach… Just a few months later, I try [suicide],’ she told the magazine.
‘It was actually absurd, as a result of subconsciously I felt I used to be possibly drained by the very fact we’d acquired married. It’s nonetheless a dialogue now, like, “How dare she marry a lady?” You may’t management what individuals say, and there have been tabloids and newspapers again in Sudan… It was an entire factor.’
Aweng shared the psychological influence of her ordeal on the time in an Instagram put up, saying: ‘Utterly torn. I can’t rise up at present. I’ll test in subsequent week. This world continues to fail each model of my existence. Relaxation in energy. You screamed for assist & the world watched.’
In a later put up, Aweng revealed that she had tried to take her personal life two months beforehand.
She wrote: ‘I tried suicide two months in the past at present.
‘And I simply wish to say, that I’m in a a lot better place. And nobody needed to know that – but it surely’s good to get it out of my chest.
‘I really feel properly sufficient to. Particularly at present. I’m grateful for all times.’
Aweng recommended ‘remedy and self-acceptance’ as coping mechanisms for LGBTQIA+ individuals dealing with comparable conditions. In September, she wrote the phrases ‘I’m a lesbian’ on Twitter for the primary time, and he or she advised Elle UK the response was ‘lovely’.
‘I want I may say, “Let me maintain the torch for the LGBTQIA+ Sudanese group,” but it surely’s lots for one individual to deal with,’ she continued. ‘I’m human on the finish of the day, I’m very human, I’m studying myself.’
