Before we get into today's article, let's make one thing clear up front: Trans women are women. Period.
Now, you may proceed.
Beauty influencer Nikita Dragun is no stranger to controversies. From being accused of blackfishing to more recently dropping a music video where she exposed screenshots of men in her DMs — which many saw as an attempt to publicly out them.
"This video is for Ms. Nikita Dragun," Zaya begins. "From one trans woman to another, babe, let's talk."
"Let's start with this statement she put on her story that says: 'Trans women are the most beautiful creatures to walk the Earth. I've never seen a cisgender female even come CLOSE to looking how my sisters looks,'" Zaya pointed out.
Zaya also referenced a second post on Nikita's Instagram story, where: "[Nikita] also posted this, saying that 'Trans women set THE trends for cisgender females.'"
"OK, let's dive in to how wrong this is," Zaya said. "First of all, no matter if a person is a cis woman or a trans woman — they're both women. It should not be a competition, and neither is better than the other."
"I personally have trans friends and yes, they are all beautiful and stunning and I love them, but I also have cis friends who are beautiful, stunning, and I love them. Life is not a beauty competition — it's that simple — no matter how you identify."
"And I don't like how she's constantly saying trans women are the fantasy," Zaya continued. "Let's have a reality check. Most trans women are not rich and famous like you. ... Most trans women are not trying to sell a fantasy. ... Most of your trans sisters around the world are struggling. They can't even afford hormones. Let's not put this idea into people's minds that all trans women are fantastic creatures who are better than anyone else. No babe, we are struggling in this world."
"We should be focusing on how to help our trans sisters instead of making it seem like all of us are this fantasy. In most countries around the world, being trans is illegal, being trans isn't recognized by the government. They can't sell their fantasies in those countries. They're just trying to live and survive," she concluded.
Zaya's video quickly went viral, accumulating nearly half a million views and thousands of comments from agreeing viewers.
"We're all equal and beautiful in our own ways," one commenter wrote. "We shouldn't put others down but rather be equally respectful."
BuzzFeed reached out to Zaya about her message for Nikita Dragun, and we'll update you if we hear back.