Model Teddy Quinlivan shares about her journey as a transsexual model, and denounces the great harassment that exists in the industry.

Currently residing in Paris, Teddy&nbsp;Quinlivan dreams of journalism and uses the runway&nbsp;as a platform to support the LGBT community. Now walking for some of the&nbsp;most reputable fashion houses, she&nbsp;was first discovered by the creative director of Louis Vuitton, Nicholas Ghesqui&egrave;re, back in 2015, marking the beginning of&nbsp;her venture&nbsp;into&nbsp;the fashion industry.&nbsp;

No one knew that Quinlivan was a transgendered model until she&nbsp;revealed it in an interview for CNN network in 2017, as a sign of respect for the LGBT community. This was a courageous and brave act,&nbsp;done at the expense of working relationships she had with some fashion houses. She explains,&nbsp;&quot;Many brands did not agree. They doubted it was a good time to be represented by a transsexual activist. And I, at the same time, did not feel more comfortable working with them. It was a bit like if a boyfriend betrayed me in the back and then left&quot;.&nbsp;

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Quinlivan, who has graced many magazine covers and paraded for luxury houses, along with other transgender or gender-neutral models with the likes of Valentina Sampaio, Andreja Pejic and Oslo Grace,&nbsp;show that beauty has no sex. However, while fashion and media industries are becoming more comfortable with addressing gender issues, a populist wave has been spurred in some countries like Brazil, where violence against transsexuals are rising. This can also be applied to the United States, due to Donald Trump&#39;s policy that stigmatizes the LGBT community.&nbsp;

Born in Worcester, a small town near Boston, Quinlivan was&nbsp;no stranger to the hatred and ignorance towards the LGBT community from a young age. When she was still in the shoes of a boy, Quinvilan escaped the ill-treatment she received&nbsp;in&nbsp;school by attending snowboarding tournaments in Vermont. She began hormone treatment in her teenage years and convinced her parents she was a woman, which led&nbsp;to them sending her to a girls boarding school. At 17, she was exposed to the dark side of the modelling industry after beginning her career&nbsp;in New York.&nbsp;

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She revealed the harrassment she received as a model from some photographers and casting directors in the industry through Instagram last April. Joining many who spoke up&nbsp;through the&nbsp;#MeToo movement, she voiced out&nbsp;her own experiences. &nbsp;She shared,&nbsp;&quot;I did not expect that, in my first season, a casting director might propose that I appear on the cover of a magazine in exchange for sexual intercourse, that a stylist could put my hand on my butt at a photoshoot or even if a photographer squeezed my breast&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;Women do not feel at ease in this industry. We need changes. But nothing will happen if the people who work in the middle remain indifferent&quot;, she continues.&nbsp;

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She notes, &quot;There&#39;s another atmosphere here. When I lived in the United States, I felt accepted by the LGBT community, but not by the straight community. In Paris, I feel accepted by all.&quot;&nbsp;

Currently, &nbsp;she says that fashion is a good platform for her to voice things out. Also sharing her current&nbsp;opinions on journalism, she explained: &quot;When I was young, I wanted to be a spy and work at the CIA because I like cases that are difficult to solve. At the moment, I&#39;m in love with journalism. I began to understand his potential in this age of fake news, with Trump in power&quot;.

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Fashion Edition: Christina Ahlberg; Photos: Jesse Laitinen; Hair: Christos Vourlis; Makeup Department: Mayumi Oda; Photography assistant: Adrien Nicolay; French translation: G&eacute;raldine Trole; Translation: Claudia Levron for L&#39;OFFICIEL Brasil

Transexual Model and Activist Teddy Quinlivan Opens Up About Her Journey

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