Homecoming queen

Geena Rocero returns to the Philippines with acourageous story,profound gratitude, and a noble pursuit.

MANILA, Philippines - Four years have passed since I last saw Geena Rocero in New York. We became good friends through the LGBT community in Manhattan, where she is the stuff of legend for her ability to pass as a ciswoman (a person who is assigned the female gender at birth), and we find each other again today in Manila. We are sitting in a hotel lobby, reminiscing about the days of yore and contemplating the significance of now. She is everything I remember her to be. Striking. Statuesque. Sincere. “I just miss eating street food,” she admits. “I still haven’t had isaw!” 

This is Geena Rocero’s big homecoming. Geena was born in the Philippines, and it was here that she was assigned as a male at birth. She came into the modest Rocero family home in Guadalupe Viejo, Makati, where the houses were “separated by plywood walls,” as the youngest of four children (one brother and two sisters). “I grew up in an alley,” she says of her modest beginnings. “We were always playing outside and it was a very close, tight-knit neighborhood.” But for as long as Geena could remember, she has always felt different. 

“I was five years old when I started to drape my T-shirt behind my head as though it were my hair,” Geena recounts. “My mom asked me what I was doing and I said, ‘I’m a girl, this is my hair.’” The loving Elizabeth Rocero eventually had three daughters — Glenda, Rhomalin, and Geena, the budding beauty queen who would win many titles in transgender pageants throughout the country. She was discovered at age 15 by her pageant mother, a transgender woman who goes by the name TL, and they would travel the mountains together on a bus for weeks on end, joining beauty pageants all over small villages of Luzon.

Immigrating to the United States when she was 17 and subsequently conquering the catwalks of New York a few years later, Geena transformed into the woman destiny meant her to be. She had become a model, an advocate, and a sister to many more like her. Hot on the heels of her high-impact coming out at the TED Talks in Vancouver two months ago, Geena is revisiting the first place she has ever called home upon the invitation of the Association of Transgenders in the Philippines, also known as ATP, an NGO run by activists Dindi Tan and Kate Montecarlo. With her she brings a courageous story, profound gratitude, and a noble pursuit.

Tan and Montecarlo mobilized IDAHOT, short for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and celebrated with the Grand Trans-Santacruzan last May 18. Geena, of course, was the exulted Reyna Elena. “So many people showed up from different generations and it was a beautiful community effort,” Geena shares. There, she was given an award for her advocacy Gender Proud and for the guts it took to share her truth with the whole world. “I really appreciated being there with the community that nurtured me,” she adds.

I asked Geena why she decided to come out in such a public forum, since “passing” as a ciswoman is oft considered a privilege, and a tricky one at that.  “Passing” is so complex and multilayered that people within the transgender community have conflicting views on the idea of disclosing oneself. An older trangender friend in New York would always chastise Geena for her tendency to be completely honest about her identity within our inner circle and to those who came close to its orbit. Our friend would interrogate her: “What good do you think will come out of you exposing yourself like that?” Geena would laugh and say, “It’s my life!” 

Geena’s justification for being so forthcoming about her journey these days is much more concrete, solid like the woman she is at 30 years old. The time is right for her. “If (passing) is considered a privilege,” she says, “then I’m using it as an opportunity to speak out and tell a story that needs to be heard because there is a lot of suffering and pain in the transgender community.”

Geena believes in the power of sharing her narrative and her earnestness is contagious. “I am being healed by being free and I know my purpose.” Geena is clear on her intentions. “I came from New York to be with my community and to spread the word about Gender Proud,” she states matter-of-factly. Gender Proud (www.genderproud.com) is Geena’s advocacy.

“It goes back to personal experience in 2005, when I still had my Philippine passport bearing my male name and male gender marker. I was traveling from New York to Tokyo and the next thing I knew, two immigration officers were questioning me!  How come my documentation didn’t match who I am? I understood the technical and security reasons as to why they had to interrogate me because clearly there was a mismatch, but it was humiliating. It shouldn’t be that difficult! I thought to myself, ‘I should be able to change my name and gender marker to who I am so there’s no confusion, so situations like that don’t happen.’”

Sadly, even today, transgender and intersex people cannot change their name and gender marker in the Philippines. “Our goal is for countries all over the world to acknowledge gender recognition,” explains Geena. The Gender Proud advocacy calls for the right of transgender and intersex people to change their name and gender marker without being forced to go through surgery first. “Nobody has the right to tell you who you are,” she continues, “It’s just so basic for your identification to reflect who you are whenever you apply for a job or travel to avoid confusion.” No shame or fear should be felt when showing one’s ID, no unwarranted exposure of the most private secrets. The beauty queen has found her heartfelt and lasting platform. Before we ask for world peace, we must first find harmony with who we are. And with isaw.

Photos by BJ PASCUAL, Styled by DAVID MILAN, Makeup by JAKE GALVEZ, Hair by FIDEL TANGO All clothes from Adora at Greenbelt 5