With the rise of social media and LGBTQ awareness in the last decade, trans women have successfully carved a space for themselves on the internet!
Apart from championing trans rights and continuing to fight against transphobia, they also love to share a part of their daily lifestyle with people. On digging deep, you’ll find most of them being an inspiration to the next generation in one way or another.
While plenty of influencers are smashing gender norms, here are the top 15 trans women who are also excelling in the content creation game!
Trans Women Who Are Changing the World!
Plenty of trans people have contributed to the world positively and made their dreams come true with immense hard work and dedication. It is impossible to fit them all here, so here’s a list of 15 trans women we believe you’d like to hear about:
Leyna Bloom
From facing homelessness to being the first transgender face on Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, Leyna Bloom’s journey has been nothing short of challenging. She was also the first openly trans woman of color to find a place on Vogue India’s cover in October 2017.
Currently, Leyna is a model, activist, dancer, and actor. Born to an African-American father and a Filipina mother, she started learning dance when she was 6. By the age of 14, she had progressed enough to share the American Ballet Theater Stage.
In 2019, she made her acting debut in a Feature film, Port Authority, which was also a part of the Cannes Film Festival.
Currently, her Instagram has 615K followers where she regularly shares about her professional accolades, music, and art.
Kataluna Enriquez
Born in the Philippines, Kataluna is the first trans woman to win the Silver State USA pageant and the Miss Nevada USA crown in 2021. She was also the first trans woman at Miss USA.
Her family, including seven siblings, migrated to San Leandro in California when she was merely 10 years old. Her high school experience was full of struggles with harassment and bullying due to gender identity. Later, she joined the San Leandro Academy for Multimedia (SLAM) and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Currently, she runs a clothing line – Kataluna Kouture. Her Instagram profile has nearly 87K followers and she actively shares her love and passion for fashion designing. She also publicly talks about the benefits of therapy for mental health.
Geena Rocero
Geena is another out and proud name in the Filipino transgender community. Born to a working-class family in Manila, she remembers her childhood as playing with dolls and sewing their clothes.
She won her first national trans pageant in the long-gown category at 15. Later, she had a sex reassignment surgery at 18 and moved to New York at 21. Presently, she is an actor-model and a founder of a media production company named Gender Proud. Her organization helps trans people change their gender legally and brings stories of discrimination and violence to notice.
Geena has recently launched a memoir, Horse Barbie. Her Instagram has over 118K followers where she regularly talks about national and international issues.
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Chelsea Wolfe (@chelseawolfebmx)
Today, trans women aren’t just acing the modeling field, but also leaving a mark in the world of athletics. Chelsea Wolfe is one such prime example! She is the first trans athlete representing Team USA in a BMX freestyle competition.
She grew up in Florida, where the biking scene is inherently strong. She first got on a cycle at the age of 6 and by 15, she was participating in freestyle BMX competitions. Coming from a family of bikers, she found it to be her coping outlet.
Now, her Instagram account has 10.9K followers and she regularly talks about her frustrations and wins as a trans athlete.
Juliana Huxtable (@julianahuxtable)
Juliana is a writer, actor, poet, musician, and performer. She uses her art of storytelling to narrate the struggle of marginalized communities. Also, she focuses on spreading information about the intersections of race, gender, and identity.
Hailing from a conservative small town in Texas, she and her two siblings were raised by a single mother after a divorce. She went to college to study literature and gender studies, and later began her journey of sex transition. She has also worked with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program as a legal assistant and as a DJ at the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Uptown Fridays.
Juliana gained massive popularity when she began posting her poems and artworks on Tumblr. Currently, her Instagram has over 70.6K followers.
Hunter Schafer
Born in December 1998, Hunter is a 24-year-old trans actor and model who played her debut role in HBO’s Euphoria. She is also sharing screen space in the soon-to-be-released The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snake, a Hunger Games movie.
Schafer and her father sued North Carolina’s bathroom bill stating that it was dangerous for people existing between gender binaries. While the bill was soon taken back, she is back to fighting other laws and policies that can potentially harm trans people.
Given her work in the acting field, Hunter has a whopping following of 6.6M on Instagram. Needless to say, being a global celebrity helps her Instagram reach immensely. On the other hand, beginners can check out Instagram automatic likes packages for growing on social media.
Indya Moore
Indya’s role as Angel in Pose amassed great popularity! However, not many people know about her modeling career and how she worked with big brands like Gucci and Dior at 15. She was also featured in Louis Vuitton’s Pre-Fall 2019 lookbook.
Born in 1995 to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother, she had to leave her home due to transphobia and move to foster care. Modeling gigs gave her a creative outlet and let her build a career in the field of acting. She was also named in the world’s top-most influential lists like Time 100 and Daze 100.
Her Instagram profile has 1.6M followers and she uses the platform to talk about geopolitical matters.
Hari Nef
If you’ve been keeping up with popular American TV series and movies like Barbie, You, Transparent, and The Idol, you’re already familiar with Hari’s work. She attended Columbia University for a degree in theater and later went on to be the first trans model signed by the very reputed IMG modeling agency.
During university days, she began transitioning and professionally networking while interning for several fashion designers. All these efforts led to her being L’oreal’s first openly transgender model for a television ad.
Currently, Hari Nef is 1M people strong on Instagram and she utilizes her social media popularity to share her life as an actor and a model. Gaining a following like that is no walk in the park, but you can buy Instagram impressions for a much-needed boost.
Eli Erlick
When discussing popular trans women in the United States, the list is incomplete without mentioning Eli Erlick. She was born in 1995 to a couple who supposedly first met at a protest. Needless to say, activism runs in her blood and she proved it by founding the Trans Student Educational Resources organization only at 16.
She began her activism journey at 15 when she had the chance to join an LGBTQ youth conference as a board member. Later, she went to Pitzer College in Claremont and began openly speaking and advocating for gender-nonconforming students.
She is presently a PhD student at the University of California, researching on political philosophy of the transgender movement. Her Instagram account has 45.8K followers and she uses the platform to openly champion transgender justice and sociopolitical issues.
Rose Montoya (@therosemontoya)
Rose is a content creator and a popular tik-toker who openly talks about trans inclusion and mental health awareness. Her journey as an influencer began after she was laid off while managing the cosmetics counter at a departmental store.
She utilized the opportunity to create educational videos and talk about transgender issues and rights. Rose’s popularity led her to collaborations with brands like Fenty Beauty, Planned Parenthood, Parade, and FX Networks.
She openly discusses different relationship structures and causes like abortion, consent, cervical cancer, and parenting trans youth. Montoya’s 109K Instagram followers are privy to her talking about body acceptance and positivity.
Caitlyn Jenner
Previously known as William Bruce Jenner, Caitlyn is a 73-year-old trans woman and a 1976 Olympic gold-winning decathlete. She also gained global popularity while appearing on the famous reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Bruce has had three wives and six children, with Kendall and Kylie Jenner being two of them. In the past, he started transitioning back in the 80s but couldn’t go through due to social perception. To halt any rising rumors, he married Kris Jenner in 1991. The journey of living life as a Caitlyn finally took center stage again in 2014.
Jenner also released a memoir, The Secrets of My Life, to openly talk about the womanhood transition. Currently, she has 15.6M followers on Instagram and shares random snippets from her life.
Isis King
Describing her journey as “born in the wrong body,” Isis was the first transgender contestant for Cycles 11 and 17 of America’s Next Top Model. Before signing for the show, she pursued a career as a runway model.
In early life, Isis first came out as gay but felt like the label didn’t do justice to her. After getting a design and illustration associate degree from the Art Institute of Philadelphia, she shifted base to New York. However, she didn’t have enough money to go through the transition and had to ultimately move to a homeless center for LGBTQ youth.
Presently, Isis has 174K followers on Instagram where she shares her life as an actor. She also works as a designer and motivational speaker.
Layshia Clarendon (@layshiac)
Layshia is the first-ever transgender person to ever be a part of the American WNBA. The player uses all pronouns and has also made history by being an athlete who has gone through a top surgery.
They studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and were selected by Indiana Fever in 2013. Clarendon openly uses their position to support LGBTQ people in sports and her advocacy has won the Outsports’ Female Hero of the Year award in 2015.
Layshia’s Instagram has amassed 36.5K followers and they use the platform to bring to light women’s sports.
Lillian Lennon (@mslillianlennon)
Lillian hails from a census-designated small town in Alaska, Talkeetna, with only 1199 people as of 2020. Coming from such a place, her introduction to queer community was almost non-existent and she had to undergo the harmful practice of conversion therapy.
Even with such an isolating start, Lillian founded her town’s first LGBTQ organization. She also took a break from college studies to fight alongside the Fair Anchorage Campaign against Proposition 1, an initiative that would deny transgenders the right to use restrooms matching their gender identity.
Lillian continues speaking for trans liberation even though she isn’t very active on Instagram. If you have also taken a long break from social media and want to get back with full force, buy automatic likes on Instagram.
Laverne Cox
Laverne is an Emmy-nominated actress who starred in the very popular TV series, Orange is the New Black. In 2014, she also became the first transgender person to be featured on the TIME magazine cover.
Hailing from Alabama, Laverne also has an identical twin brother. She went to a couple of colleges and studied writing and dancing before finally choosing acting at the Marymount Manhattan College in NYC.
Over the years, Cox has appeared in multiple Broadway shows, independent films, movies, and reality shows. With over 7M Instagram followers, she also hosts the “The Laverne Cox Show” to discover new perspectives and talk about trans rights.
Conclusion
Transgender people have often suffered the consequences of physical violence, unemployment, health disparities, and overall systematic discrimination.
However, there is a gradual change and more trans people are now able to voice their struggles on social media. The above-mentioned 15 trans women have braved the norms and brought more attention to discriminatory practices and issues.
If used positively, social media can help bring awareness and focus to any cause. If you’re planning to do the same, buy automatic Instagram impressions for more post visibility.
