Pinoy transgender is the new face of global drive for gender equality

New York supermodel Geena Rocero is fast becoming the voice (and face) of the LGBT movement across the globe since she came out as a transgender early this year, taking on a new role as a celebrity activist to promote gender equality.

“Last Oct. 25,” reported Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre, “Geena joined former Pres. Bill Clinton, Sir Elton John, Jennifer Hudson and other luminaries at the 18th annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) national dinner in Washington, D.C., a high-profile function promoting visibility among LGBT members and equal treatment of the LGBT communities all over the world.”

Edmund said that Geena met Clinton backstage after the popular 42nd American president delivered an impassioned keynote speech commending the LGBT movement for a string of victories that have brought marriage equality to many states in the US. The two briefly exchanged pleasantries and ideas on how to create more awareness about gender rights.

At the event, Geena shared her coming-out journey that inspires many LGBT members.

“I was lucky I made it as a fashion model,” the Manila-born model told some 3,000 people. “But I had a secret.”

It was in March, while addressing TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), the influential conference series of world thought leaders marking the International Transgender Day of Visibility, when Geena first came out and shared her story with the world.

“My neighbors, friends, colleagues, even my agent did not know about my history,” she told the HRC national dinner crowd. “It’s something I wasn’t ready to share to many people during my first nine years in New York. I am a transgender woman of color,” she admitted to loud cheers and applause. “I am an immigrant. I shared my history with the world because I could no longer live my truth alone. The transgender community allowed me to be who I am at such a young age. They accepted me. It’s time that I give back that love.”

Added Edmund, “Geena, 30, also talked about Gender Proud, an advocacy and awareness campaign she founded to advance the rights of transgender individuals. For now, the advocacy is focused on three countries: Brazil, Hong Kong and the Philippines.”

Gender Proud calls attention to the fact that there are only a handful of countries where transgenders are able to change their gender marker without having to first undergo surgery, she noted.

Geena was featured at the recent Bench: The Naked Truth Fashion Show with nobody except those close to her knowing what her real gender is. She migrated to San Francisco at age 17 and was discovered by a fashion photographer at 21. She was then signed up by a top agency, NEXT Model Management, and spent 12 years modeling for international swimsuit and beauty editorials, shuttling between the fashion capitals.

“During the HRC National Dinner,” Edmund said, “Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish received the HRC National Equality Award, and announced that the Elton John AIDS Foundation was awarding a $300,000 grant to HRC’s Foundation to increase awareness of HIV prevention, treatment and care among LGBT people.”

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