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 23, 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, …
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 23, 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.
Different for every person
Transitioning gender isn’t something Isis takes lightly, but it’s also something that can’t be defined the same way for every person. “When you transition,” Isis says, “everyone has their own journey, everyone has own timeframe.” Some people may be satisfied with just taking hormones, while others might not be satisfied in their body until they’ve had breast augmentation or the full genital reassignment surgery.
Isis has had all three procedures. She started taking hormones at 21, and by 23 she had completed her full gender reassignment. But her journey hasn’t ended; “I kind of realized your journey is never really complete…
just kind of evolving,” she says.
Watch the rest of the interview with Isis King here
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