Geena Rocero

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Geena Rocero
Geena Rocero for Chromat.jpg
Rocero advertising for Chromat in 2018
Born1983[1]
Manila, Philippines
NationalityAmerican
Occupationsupermodel, advocate, organizational founder
Years active2002 to present
OrganizationGender Proud

Geena Rocero (born 1983)[1] is a Filipino-born American model, TED speaker, and transgender advocate[2] based in New York City.[3] Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company that tells stories of the transgender community worldwide to elevate justice and equality. Rocero has spoken about transgender rights at the United Nations Headquarters, the World Economic Forum, and the White House.[4]

Personal life[]

Geena Rocero was born in Manila, Philippines to a working-class family. She started competing in beauty pageants at age 15.[5][6]

Rocero immigrated to San Francisco, California at age 17. In 2005, Geena Rocero moved to New York City,[7] and she became a U.S. citizen in 2006.[8]

Career[]

Rocero takes the stage in Vancouver, BC to come out as transgender on International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 2014.

Rocero was discovered by a fashion photographer in a restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan when she was 21 years old. She was then signed to NEXT Model Management and spent 12 years modeling for international swimsuit and beauty editorials, earning herself a large fan base.[9]

In 2014, Rocero was featured on the fifth anniversary cover of C☆NDY magazine along with 13 other transgender women: Janet Mock, Carmen Carrera, Laverne Cox, Isis King, , Leyna Ramous, , , Juliana Huxtable, , , and Yasmine Petty.[10]

Adding to her résumé in 2015, Rocero became Executive Producer of "Beautiful As I Want To Be", a digital series for Logo focused on transgender youth.[2] The show spotlights young trans people, and pairs them with a coach or mentor in the trans community. In the first episode, Zeam, a young trans man and artist, is paired with Caitlyn Jenner.[2] Jenner in the episode mentions Rocero as "the first trans person I ever met".[11] Rocero has also been featured on Jenner's show I Am Cait.[12]

In 2016 Rocero and Tracey Norman became the first two openly transgender models to appear on the cover of an edition of Harper’s Bazaar.[13] She became the Playboy Playmate of the Month for August 2019. She was the first openly transgender Asian-Pacific Islander model to pose for Playboy magazine.[14]

Rocero made her directorial debut for the 2021 four-part documentary series "Caretakers," highlighting Filipino-Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Activism[]

In 2014, Rocero launched Gender Proud, "an advocacy & awareness campaign that aims to advance the rights of all transgender individuals".[6] On March 31, 2014, in honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility, Rocero came out as transgender while giving a TED talk in Vancouver, Canada.[15] On September 19, 2014, excerpts of Rocero's TED talk were featured on NPR's TED Radio Hour podcast.[16]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Davis, Allison P. (April 3, 2014). "Transgender Model Geena Rocero on Her TED Talk". New York. Retrieved July 1, 2014. the 30-year-old
  2. ^ a b c "Supermodel Geena Rocero's Powerful New Show Beautifully Spotlights Trans Youth". MTV News. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  3. ^ Megan Friedman (November 23, 2015). "Transgender Model Geena Rocero Wants to Be on the Cover of 'Sports Illustrated'". Elle. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  4. ^ 200 Women: Geena Rocero, December 2019, retrieved 2021-01-29
  5. ^ Rocero, Geena (March 31, 2014). "Model: Why I came out as transgender". CNN. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Gender Proud envisions a world"
  7. ^ "TED Speaker Geena Rocero Model and activist". TED. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  8. ^ "Geena Rocero, Transgender Model And Advocate, Recalls Being Detained Because Of Conflicting ID". The Huffington Post. April 1, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  9. ^ "Transgender Model Geena Rocero Gives Inspiring TED Talk About Coming Out"
  10. ^ "Laverne Cox, Carmen Carrera, Among 14 Trans Stars On "Candy" Magazine Cover". NewNowNext.
  11. ^ "Beautiful As I Want To Be: Caitlyn Jenner Mentors Zeam | Beautiful As I Want To Be | LOGOTV". LOGOTV. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  12. ^ "Caitlyn Sits Down With Trans Activist Geena Rocero on I Am Cait". E! Online. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  13. ^ "Tracey Africa and Geena Rocero Cover Harper's Bazaar". Nymag.com. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  14. ^ "Model and Producer Geena Rocero Makes History as a Playboy Playmate of the Year and Celebrates Sixth Anniversary of her Iconic TED Talk on Trans Day of Visibility". GLAAD. March 31, 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  15. ^ "Geena Rocero’s TED talks"
  16. ^ "How Do You Reveal A Life-Changing Transformation?"

External links[]

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