Carmen Carrera
We definitely can’t talk about the flash and glamour surrounding these trans superstars without mentioning RuPaul’s Drag Race. With burlesque queen Carmen Carrera in the mix, this show has brought the colorful world of drag performers to mainstream television. After being removed from the previous show, Carrera was the second person to be welcomed back for RuPaul’s Drag U. Carrera has become an outspoken champion for the LGBTQ+ community since competing in the competition, making her a role model for the kids. After being rejected an audition for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2013, the community rallied around her and petitioned for her to participate. Despite collecting 45,000 signatures, the lingerie mogul refused.
Carmen Carrera
Alexis Arquette
Alexis Arquette was the fourth child in the brilliant Arquette family. She, like her siblings, is an actress who made her film debut at the age of 16 as Max Whitman’s androgynous companion in the cult classic Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Though she worked primarily in indie films, she was also a poet, activist, teacher, and therapist during her lifetime. Alexis declared her gender preference when she began acting as a female impersonator under the stage name Eva Destruction. She began gender-affirming medical treatment with hormone therapy in 2004, and she had her sex reassignment surgery in 2006. Her entire journey was covered in the film Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival the year after her surgery. Alexis died in 2016 as a result of HIV complications.
Alexis Arquette
