Despite the great personal hardship, discrimination, and violence faced by transgender people face, many have achieved notable careers in government, business, entertainment, or as social justice advocates with the support of friends, allies, and organizations. These 70 individuals below are just some of the famous transgender people who deserve recognition for thriving in their fields and becoming empowering representations of queerness.
When building a list of famous trans people, there were three basic criteria:
- They are currently living.
- They are publicly out as transgender.
- They’ve had successful careers after their transitions.
While the careers of some of these famous transgender people have little to nothing to do with being trans, others have built successful platforms on their trans identities, defiantly challenging oppression while wearing their gender identity as emblems of honor.
This list is not comprehensive, and there are literally hundreds more we did not list. The careers represented are deliberately eclectic, as are their genders, ages, races, and are intended to show the diversity of the community.
Transgender people can accomplish great and admirable things as out and proud individuals. They should be role models not only for queer youth, but for anyone. Thus, in no particular order, here are LGBTQ Nation’s top 70 famous transgender people you should know about.
Click through this slideshow to discover more about these inspiring transgender individuals.
The top 70 famous transgender people you should know