Gender Bender: 10 Transgender celebrities to know about

Karen GEORGE

21 May 2015

mis à jour le 3 May 2019 à 18:01

From runway models to actors, beauty queens and even magazine editors, the spectrum of transgender celebrities extends far and wide.

1/10
Andreja Pejic
Before Andreja Pejic, there was Andrej Pejic who was turning heads on the catwalks with her high cheekbones and flowing blonde hair.The renowned androgynous model underwent sex reassignment surgeries earlier this year and is now officially referred to as a female model.
2/10
Isis King
Isis King was the first transgender model to appear on America's Next Top Model. She may not have won the coveted title but she has gone on to a successful career in modeling and fashion design.
3/10
Lea T
Lea T is a Brazilian model who's broken transgender barriers in the modeling world by fronting campaigns and walking the runways of international fashion houses. Discovered by Riccardo Tisci, Lea recently became the face of American haircare brand Redken, thus making her the first openly transgender model to front a global cosmetics brand.
4/10
Amanda Lepore
Model, socialite, singer and performance artist Amanda Lepore started out life as Armand Lepore. Her sex change has not stopped her from appearing in advertising campaigns for M.A.C, The Blondes, Swatch and CAMP Cosmetics.
5/10
Chaz Bono
Before his transition, Chaz Bono was most famous for being the daughter of Cher. Aside from his short-lived music career and a stint on Dancing with The Stars, Chaz spends most of his time championing LGBT rights.
6/10
Candis Cayne
Candis Cayne is the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character when she landed a role on Dirty Sexy Money. Candis has also appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nip/Tuck and Necessary Roughness, carving a name for herself as a successful transgender actress.
7/10
Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox is now a household name thanks to breakout Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black but not many people know the actress was previously a he.
8/10
Alicia Liu
Nobody knew Taiwan's most famous model and public personality Alicia Liu started out life as Liu Zihua. The model said she kept her sex change a secret because she wanted to make a name for herself first. Now that she's fulfilled her dreams, Alicia wants to be a role model for other transgenders and show them that nothing is impossible.
9/10
Janet Mock
American writer, transgender rights activist, former staff editor of People magazine and the owner of an enviable head of hair is living proof that you can be transgender and lead a normal life.
10/10
Jenna Talackova
Canadian model and TV personality Jenna Talackova gained worlwide attention when she was disqualified from the Miss Canada Universe contest for being a trans woman. Jenna then waged a battle to be included and won.

Whether or not you keep up with the Kardashians, you would have at some point heard the brouhaha over Bruce Jenner's decision to transition from being male to female. Indeed, it was just last month when the former Olympian braved the public and sat down with veteran talk show host Diane Sawyer to confirm that he is undergoing treatment to become a woman. His journey into womanhood has scored him his own reality TV series on E!

With so much media interest in Bruce Jenner's transitioning, you'd think he was the first ever celebrity attempting to accomplish the impossible under such public scrutiny. Many people don't realize that many of the famous faces they see on TV, magazines and the runways were not born in the gender they now live in. Click through the gallery and allow us to shine a light on celebrities you never knew were transgender.

Karen George

Photos: SIPA

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