Andreja Pejic

Perhaps if I was in a different profession, I wouldn't have worn 'trans' on my forehead. But there's a difference between not wanting to make a big deal out of something and fearing the effect it will have on my life.

I was lucky to grow up in a family where your parents loved you no matter what you were or what you came out as, and a lot of kids don't have that ride.

For a long time after childhood ended and before I expressed my femininity through androgyny, I really didn't like looking in the mirror much because I just felt like I wasn't attractive.

When childhood ended, I had to suppress feminine characteristics and try and be a boy. I didn't want to grow up at all because it meant becoming someone else.

You can wax on so much about your figure and your skin and your face and all of those really important, and I'm all about skin and keeping it healthy, but if you don't have confidence, none of it matters.

The beauty of my journey is that it's always been pretty unpredictable, so stay tuned.

Stepping outside of my personal bubble, or that of fashion or beauty, is pretty important to me.

The fact that my body is presented as an unrealistic ideal of 'beauty' to the world doesn't stop me - or most other models - from feeling unsure about ourselves.

All human beings deserve equal treatment, no matter their gender identity or sexuality.

To demand that people find their assigned narrow corridors of culture or ethnicity or gender, expecting people to forevermore stay in that lane, is to limit our human potential. It's oppressive.

The first time I came to New York - and the first time I saw the movie 'Paris Is Burning' - I learned about the homeless LGBT culture in New York City that goes back to the '80s. I found that very interesting, and it's definitely something that I care about.

I came out to my mom at the age of 14. She didn't understand it at first, but she's been very supportive since.