The world is full of many wonderful people doing many extraordinary things for the LGBT community. However it’s unfortunate that some may never get the recognition that they deserve. However, SOULE is here to change that with our column entitled, Inspired By. Inspired By is a weekly tribute to an amazing soul that encompasses the true essence of SOULE, an individual who promotes Unity, Love & Equality. Each individual selected has inspired us by their various achievements but also their attitude and values. Today we celebrate the talented model and trans-activist , Geena Rocero.
Geena’s story begins in Manila, where she grew up poor but amongst a loving and supportive family. She began competing in beauty pageants at 15, and immigrated to the States at 17. At the age of 19, Geena Rocero had gender reassignment surgery. At a New York restaurant on the lower east side at 21, she was discovered by a fashion photographer. The rest is her-story, which was told March 19 at a TED talk. (Gender Proud)
Check out her infamous Ted talk entitled Why I must come out below.
This was a pivotal moment, because this was the first time Rocero had publicly revealed she was transgender. She’d had sex reassignment surgery at age 19, a major milestone in her life that she’d kept to herself, never sharing it with the vast majority of friends and colleagues she’d met in New York City. Over the years, as she built her career in modeling, she lived in fear that she would one day wake up to a salacious item about herself in the gossip pages: “Geena Rocero is not a woman.” Not only could it cost her her career, but it would also reinforce what she saw as an ignorant misconception about transgender women—that they aren’t real women. Now, at TED, in the most visible way possible, Rocero was explaining her decision to step forward: “I want to do my best to help others live their truth without shame and terror.” And that day, there would be no shame. (Glamour)
Currently Geena spearheads GenderProud, whose goal is to elevate transgender justice and equality; to do this, we focus on telling new and empowering stories about the trans experience. (Gender Proud)
In most recent news Geena is working with Cover girl and their #girlscan campaign, on a mission to empower young females everywhere.
We are truly inspired by Geena Rocero staying true to herself and taking the fashion industry by storm. We thank her for her dedication to truth and the pursuit of Unity, Love & Equality for all !!!