Quotes from Carmen Carrera

I wasn't a masculine kid; I was pretty effeminate.

It just so happens that I'm trans. It shouldn't have to be like 'Oh, that's the trans model selling the trans clothes.'

For any model in this industry, you never know if you're going to get work. You never know if people are going to relate to you, and embrace you. And then being trans is kind of like - I hate to say it - but it's kind of like a setback.

I want to be a successful trans woman burlesque performer.

My experience started in the gay nightlife/drag life. I was just as consumed in ignorance about what is offensive to transpeople because at that time I hadn't found myself. I was living as a drag performer only.

My life isn't really that different from a biological female.

If people can understand me and accept me as a woman, I'm going to get booked for more jobs.

I've learned that my word carries weight, and that's something I have to always have to keep in mind.

When you don't have a support system, and you're constantly being bullied for who you are, and you begin to not accept yourself for who you are, it's a distraction from schoolwork. It's a distraction from learning and from growing.

My family is very supportive, lucky for me.

We cannot let fear and terror dictate how we live our lives, no matter what. Life is a blessing with an expiration date, and we must embrace it while we can.

The only way to combat hate is by demonstrating empathy and love.

I ended up going to public school in the first grade, and that's when I knew I had to be very strategic about my survival in school. I tried my best to be friends with people who were going to protect me.

Honestly, when I was a boy and I was out as a gay boy, I never really dealt with anyone bullying me or anything like that.

I don't dedicate my whole life to being a trans advocate. But I do believe that me, and how I represent myself and how I am honest and open to everybody, I do feel like I'm doing something for the trans community.

When you live this trans experience, there's a point and time in your life that you almost stop developing because you don't know where to go.

In all honesty plastic surgery these days goes hand-in-hand with beauty maintenance. It's nothing new. Who I am, my body, I was not created from surgery, at all, whatsoever.

I'm very passionate and believe that every time the LGBT community is featured in the media, people are learning about us.

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.

We must learn to exist together in peace and love people as they are. That is the only way humanity wins.

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.

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 just want to say that I'm, like, living for myself, because I was onstage at Radio City Music Hall with Christina Aguilera - and my name was on the screen. It was a big moment!

Your gender should not matter in your heart or in the way you express your personality.