Billy Porter Wears Butterfly Tattoos at Critics' Choice Awards to Honor Transgender Community

Billy Porter is off to a very fashionable start to award show season.

After donning an angelic white feather ensemble to the 2020 Golden Globes, he turned heads once again in his stop-and-stare Critics’ Choice Awards look.

On Sunday night, the Pose star, 50, wore a custom Hogan McLaughlin two-toned seafoam green strapless jumpsuit that channeled “Gumby butterfly realness.”

“The Category Is: Fashion Gumby Butterfly Realness,” Porter wrote alongside a photo of the look on Instagram. “Today’s @criticschoice custom @hoganmclaughlin look styled by @sammyratelle is inspired by the free-spiritedness of David Bowie and the 1970’s disco era – my all-time favorite.”

Porter, who was nominated for best actor in a drama series for his role on FX’s Pose, paired the custom piece with silver armor jewelry from Lynn Ban and custom white platform boots by Coach.

The strapless look put his arms on full display to show off the temporary butterfly tattoos that covered his arms and chest.

“The hand-painted butterfly tattoos by @heyannabee continue my theme for 2020, which is being released from the bondage of masculinity and flying free,” he also wrote on Instagram. “Just like the beautiful ladies from @poseonfx, we are often born into one stage of life and then cocoon into an incubation of self-discovery, transformation, and acceptance, ultimately being released into freedom as beautiful creatures.”

He spoke with Entertainment Tonight on the carpet, explaining that the butterflies “are a symbol of the transgender community.”

“[They represent] how you come from the cocoon, you come as one thing, and then you transform into something else. So I wanted to honor my peeps tonight,” he said.

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At the 2019 Footwear News Achievement Awards in December, Porter gave PEOPLE a preview into his 2020 awards season style line-up.

“I’m not trying to top myself and I don’t feel any pressure about that,” he explained. “It’s interesting to me that that’s always the question and that we’re always in this space of who’s the best [dressed] and who’s the worst [dressed]. There is room and space for everything and everybody.”

RELATED: Billy Porter Says He’s Not Stressing About His Awards Season Outfits: ‘I Show Up as Myself’

From his heavenly gold wings at the 2019 Met Gala to his embellished western-inspired 2019 Emmys ensemble, Porter has had his fair share of iconic looks. But, the one outfit he knows he cannot top: his 2019 Oscars tuxedo ballgown.

“I can’t top the Oscars dress,” he told PEOPLE. “That was its own thing. Now we’re going onto something else that’s going to be its own thing. That’s what I’m trying to do because life is hard enough and there’s already enough pressure. My job is actually being an actor and a writer and that’s pressure you know what I mean? It’s like I’m trying to actually get that next gig.”