There's a lot of healing that needs to happen between the LGBT community and the cisgender heterosexual world. There's a ton of misunderstanding.
We must learn to exist together in peace and love people as they are. That is the only way humanity wins.
My message is: beauty has no gender. At the end of the day beauty is beauty.
Beauty is the ability to utilize the tools provided in order to showcase your spirit in order to show your true soul.
And I come from a very proud Hispanic family. We're proud to be Latino. We're proud to be Peruvian. And my dad's side is proud to be Puerto Rican.
Most Americans need to be told discrimination against trans people is against the law. Instead of looking at us as people, they look at us as not people. If there's a law that states this treatment is not allowed, I'd feel safer to function more confidently in society because I'd know I'm protected by the law in the country I pay taxes in.
I would love to do more modeling. I would love to do anything really, mainstream, and help to create, I guess, a feeling of acceptance for people who are different and not look at them like they're freaks or whatever.
I got kicked out of Catholic school, by the way, because I was too feminine. I was too feminine and I had a crush on this boy named Anthony and the nuns were not having it.
Being in the entertainment industry, I do have some privileges, but when I'm off sets and in the real world, I'm a trans individual whose rights and safety have been taken away.
All you have to do is respect me. Use the right words. If you don't consider me a woman, then use trans woman. Whatever works for you. But don't try to use something that's a slur or something that's meant to degrade who we are.
Being a voice for my community is something that I don't take lightly.
I wasn't a masculine kid; I was pretty effeminate.
I'll have men, or I'll have women say that I'll never be a woman because I don't menstruate, or because I'm not made up like Kim Kardashian. So in that sense, I use makeup for a little bit of confidence. But for the most part, day-to-day, I wear makeup if it feels good.
I don't need to rely on my concealer to have a sense of myself. I should be able to go out without my concealer, without my makeup, and still be able to be joyful.
Regardless of whether you're in a gay or heterosexual relationship, you're going to go through your ups and downs.
I'm a show girl at heart.
As someone who's visible, I feel it's part of my responsibility to have a voice for trans people because the fight is not necessarily on television. The fight is every day.
In my early 20s, I set out to kind of find myself. At that time, if you were different or if you ever questioned your gender identity or sexual orientation, society kind of put you in the gay club.
I always try to think about what I can do to let people know that I'm just like everyone else. I have two girls here at home I'm trying to raise. I'm trying to be a good stepmom. I'm trying to stay fit and be a good model and break ground in the acting world. I'm working that same struggle every other woman is trying to work.
When I was a kid, I was really quiet.
