Trans model Carmen Carrera is conflicted. The 30-year-old New Jersey native who was born Christopher Roman is torn between his responsibilities as a trans activist and his strong belief that he is a real woman.
“I’m proud to be trans, but at the same time, I want people to view me as just a girl with a past,” he told HuffPost Live host Josh Zepps.
Carrera acknowledged there is “great talk” and growing acceptance of transgenders but he wants the focus to shift more toward society acceptance that transgenders are real women.
“I would hope that one day there will be a time when it’s not so much about transgender, it’s just people will just see us as women,” he said. “For me, my struggle now is to fit in with the rest of the female population.”
Carrera who is “married” to a man and has a daughter, said he feels pressure to be a role model for transgenders, but he also wants to push his narrative that he is areal woman, not a man in a dress.
“For me, I know I am a trans activist and I try my best to stand up when the time is right, but at the same time, I don’t always want to be considered transgender around my friends and people at my daughter’s school,” he said. “I just want to be considered a woman.”