Model, actress, and designer Isis King may have been born biologically male, but ever since childhood she knew she was woman. Establishing a transgender identity does not come easy though, and at 21, Isis was homeless, living at a New York City LGBT shelter. After finding work as a background model for an America’s Next Top Model photo shoot, host Tyra Banks took an interest in her, and asked Isis be a part of the show’s next season. Within months, Isis was in the national spotlight as the first transgender contestant on Top Model, and she has used her platform to follow her dreams ever since – designing her own line of clothing, expanding her modeling and acting career, and …
Model, actress, and designer Isis King may have been born biologically male, but ever since childhood she knew she was woman. Establishing a transgender identity does not come easy though, and at 21, Isis was homeless, living at a New York City LGBT shelter. After finding work as a background model for an America’s Next Top Model photo shoot, host Tyra Banks took an interest in her, and asked Isis be a part of the show’s next season. Within months, Isis was in the national spotlight as the first transgender contestant on Top Model, and she has used her platform to follow her dreams ever since – designing her own line of clothing, expanding her modeling and acting career, and serving as an activist for transgender people everywhere.
Priority of identity
Isis identifies as a woman, first and foremost, and in most everyday settings uses this as her primary identification. But because she is such a well known figure in the community, she often identifies as a woman of trans experience “for educational purposes.” She usually doesn’t have any problems being mistreated by men or women, but she does have a equal impatience for whoever doesn’t treat her with respect. “If you don’t respect me, you’re not going to be in my company,” she says.
What about dating?
Isis dates men, but acknowledges that she finds women beautiful and “loves the female figure”. And when it comes to talking about her identity with a date, she finds it much easier to get it all out of the way up front.
Otherwise, delaying those necessary conversations can get a little complicated – but more because of her celebrity than her gender! “I’m pretty well known,” Isis says, so if she’s out with someone, and she hasn’t told them everything about her, “one of my fans might come up and make it awkward.” Being on the same page with someone you’re intimate with is more than just courtesy – for a transgender person, it can be extremely dangerous to be intimate with someone you haven’t shared info with.
Watch the rest of the interview with Isis King here.
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