Model Geena Rocero came out transgender
on Monday, coinciding with International Transgender Day of
Visibility.
Rocero, the founder of Gender Proud,
said
in a CNN op-ed that she was “not born a boy” but “assigned
boy at birth.”
“Understanding the difference between
the two is crucial to our culture and society moving forward in the
way we treat – and talk about – transgender individuals,”
Rocero wrote.
“Growing up [in] the Philippines, I
was involved in transgender beauty pageants from the age of 15. In
Asian cultures, the fluidity of gender has been part of life for
thousands of years, evidenced by the Buddhist Goddess of compassion,
GuanYin and the Hindu hijra Goddess, Bahuchara Mata, who is sacred to
men who want to be cured of impotence, and to women wanting to become
pregnant.”
In a TED talk delivered last month
titled Why I Must Come Out, Rocero said “Today, this very
moment is my real coming out. I am here exposed … to help others
live without shame and terror.” (The video is embedded on this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)