SALISBURY, MD—Producer, fashion model and trans rights activist Geena Rocero discusses her story and the struggles of being a transgender woman of color during the presentation “What Can I Call You? Stepping Into Your Authentic Self” Tuesday, April 9, at Salisbury University.
Her presentation is 7 p.m. in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri Student Union.
Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, an award-winning media production company focusing on stories about what it means to be transgender and gender non-conforming. She received the GLAAD Media Award for the 2016 LogoTV documentary Beautiful as I Want to Be, highlighting trans youth.
Her Fusion TV/Univision documentary No League of Their Own, spotlighting transgender athletes, won the 2017 Association of LGBTQ Journalists Best in Health and Fitness Coverage award. She also has produced two GLADD Media-nominated shows: Made to Model, showcasing emerging trans models, in collaboration with LogoTV, MTV and VH1; and the web series Willing and Able, focusing on transgender employment.
She is the co-host of the Webby Award-winning TV show ASPIREist, broadcast on Headline News and CNN, and recently contributed a chapter to the New York Times bestselling book American Like Me with America Ferrera, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kumail Nanjani and others. A member of the New York LGBT Center, she also has been featured in media outlets including MSNBC, NBC’s Today, Cosmopolitan, People and Entertainment Weekly, among others.
Rocero came out as transgender at the annual TED Conference in 2014 in honor of the International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. Her viral talk has been viewed more than four million times and translated into 23 languages.
At SU, she talks about the importance of gender justice as it relates to pronouns and preferred names, as well as ways to advocate for trans individuals in local communities.
Sponsored by the Multicultural Student Services Office, admission is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-548-4503 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.
