Model Geena Rocero spoke of the need to
support local health centers for transgender people during Saturday's
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) gala in San Francisco.
Rocero, the founder of Gender Proud,
came out transgender during a TED Talk last year.
“I moved to New York City to be a
model,” Rocero
said Saturday. “I had a big dream. But after almost a decade
of living stealth, I'd had enough. I wanted to free myself. I
wanted to own my story. So, I decided to come out in a TED Talk last
year.”
Born in Manila to a working class
family, Rocero began competing in beauty pageants at age 15. She
immigrated to San Francisco at 17.
“I will be forever grateful to the
trans initiatives at the [San Francisco] Asian and Pacific Islander
Wellness Center,” Rocero said. “They took me in like family,
taught me important things, like hormones, about my health and about
my human rights. It is critical that we support local community
health care centers.”