Carmen Carrera Quotes

If no one knew that I was trans - let's say that I made it very, very far. Let's say I went to the UFC and became a UFC champion, even, won the belt title, took it home and no one ever knew - that would be great for me.

I was pretty sure, going along the timeline, I was going to have to embrace being a role model for transsexuals in mixed martial arts, and I'm willing to embrace it - of course.

There are no trans roles, and if there are, they go to Jared Leto or Eddie Redmayne or Elle Fanning... Will there ever come a point where I could play a woman in a realistic, naturalistic drama and have there not be the word 'trans' in the script?

It was easier to forget, or be dismissive about, transgender issues when there weren't transgender staffers or interns walking the halls of the White House.

What's hurtful is when you have portrayals like, you know, when you have someone like Jared Leto who accepts an award for 'Dallas Buyers Club,' after playing a trans woman, standing in a full beard and looking fully cis male: it is communicating to our audiences that underneath all of that, it's still a man under that.

I'm a legitimate fighter who trained for years for this and I'm good, but suddenly, just because I'm a transgender woman, I fall into the category of 'freak show.'

I always knew that transgenders are allowed to join Miss Universe and win Miss Universe. So they're welcome to join.

I don't know any lingerie brands that really embrace transgender women at all, to be honest.

I consider myself true, which, I know, some people look at as radical, but I enjoy the normalcies of life. I'm not out there trying to transform things, but somehow, by being easy to talk to, and easy to look at, and on a mainstream TV show, I think that I'm helping the public's opinions about transgendered people to change, slowly.

I always enjoyed doing transgender songs.

I think that the fact that we had a trans woman on the cover of 'Vanity Fair'... is only good for the trans community. I can't imagine that the more we talk about this that it's not just doing everybody a lot of good.

A lot of people, when they look at the whole trans thing, they think,'Oh, you're transgender, and in the fashion industry, which is very pro-LGBT, so you don't have any problems because it's a progressive place.' But that's not the reality.

When I was on 'Doubt' on CBS, there was a 60-second scene, but in that 60 seconds, people were so affected because it was trans women in a very normalized situation.

We don't agree with Caitlyn Jenner deciding she is the spokesperson for trans people.

If what the transgender movement seeks is acceptance, association with the Kardashian circus is the last thing it needs.

Access to public facilities like bathrooms is important for transgender people. But the fight for transgender rights does not begin and end at the bathroom door.

I hope I can help convince people there that being transgender is not a big deal and that we are just average people trying to go to school, work, and live good lives.

I'm loving the fact that Hollywood is telling trans stories.

2014 was a good year for transgender rights.

I'm the first transsexual fighter in MMA. Like, ever. It's always going to be part of the narrative, but I'll deal with it. I'll try my best to use it to my advantage.

Here we go again. Pandering to the .3 percent of the American population that consider themselves transgender. Now I get to explain this to my 8-year-old, if I just wanted to watch a nice family show with some nice music.

I think what people need to realize is that, with trans people, we're like everybody else. No group of people are all the same. All women are not the same, all men are not the same, all children are not the same. It's the same thing with trans people - we're all so different, we have different goals, different dreams, and different aspirations.

I always supported gay issues, but I never understood transgender issues. But after I heard Bruce Jenner speak so honestly, so sincerely, and so relatably, I totally got it. I totally understood what he was saying - it was so compelling.

It's true. I'm not a spokesperson. But I can say now that transgendered people like to be heard and to be respected.

I strongly support the rights of transgender individuals. I will not denigrate or deny their struggles.