Quotes from Carmen Carrera

Luckily for me the public have known me before my transition and I've always had the same body type.

But if you look at Victoria's Secret models, honestly, young girls don't necessarily look up to them for the healthiest reasons. It's more about the envy, the desire to look aesthetically best: it's an unattainable, elitist mindset.

Before my transition I felt trapped, and now I've been set free.

Most Americans need to be told discrimination against trans people is against the law. Instead of looking at us as people, they look at us as not people. If there's a law that states this treatment is not allowed, I'd feel safer to function more confidently in society because I'd know I'm protected by the law in the country I pay taxes in.

I like to jump around, and it takes a long time for people to catch up to me sometimes.

I'll have men, or I'll have women say that I'll never be a woman because I don't menstruate, or because I'm not made up like Kim Kardashian. So in that sense, I use makeup for a little bit of confidence. But for the most part, day-to-day, I wear makeup if it feels good.

I don't view myself as a 'trans actor' or a 'trans model.' I mean, I am - it's part of who I am - but it's not something that solely defines me.

My message is: beauty has no gender. At the end of the day beauty is beauty.

I would love to do more modeling. I would love to do anything really, mainstream, and help to create, I guess, a feeling of acceptance for people who are different and not look at them like they're freaks or whatever.

I want to make 'People' magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.

I've always had a 'stand up for the people' type of personality.

I'm not Laverne Cox. I'm not Janet Mock... I'm just a girl from New Jersey who has experience and lived.

I want to just be able to act and be like the girl next door or the cute babysitter or the busy mom who's fun or who knows, maybe something super dramatic, somebody who's really insecure and angry.

I know during my transition it was difficult for me to stop believing I would be stuck unhappy forever, but that's not true. Physical changes take a while but internal feelings of changing and finding your peace can take way longer.

Courtney Love gave me advice on how to stay focused. She told me I have a lot of positivity and I have a lot of light and to just stay on that path, because it's easy to become affected by the negativity.

Stepping into the gym or going out to do sports is a scary thing for a trans person - you feel like everyone is looking at you.

I got kicked out of Catholic school, by the way, because I was too feminine. I was too feminine and I had a crush on this boy named Anthony and the nuns were not having it.

Regardless of whether you're in a gay or heterosexual relationship, you're going to go through your ups and downs.

If I ever feel like I don't know what to do next, I always think about WWJD, like 'what would J-Lo do,' 'cause J-Lo for me is like the epitome of feminine sensuality, mixed with show stopping beauty.

Drag has always been an open space where anyone within the LGBT community can express their creativity.

Beauty is the ability to utilize the tools provided in order to showcase your spirit in order to show your true soul.

My coffee usually is very light, very sweet with milk preferably Almond Milk but if not available I take whole milk but I'm trying to go vegan, so I try for at least soy.

I run into a lot of ignorance and stupidity. It gets really frustrating, but you have to take yourself out of it and realize what's happening in the bigger picture.

Growing up, I didn't really watch the Victoria's Secret fashion show too much. I really just saw folks who weren't real to me, so it didn't really interest me.