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Monday, November 25, 2013

Transgender Model Carmen Carrera Biography

Transgender Model Carmen Carrera Biography:

transgender-model-carmen_carrera
transgender-model-carmen_carrera
Carmen Carrera

Born  Christopher Roman
April 13th, 1985
Elmwood Park, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation Model
Years active 2011–present
Modeling information
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Website www.carmencarrera.com
Carmen Carrera (born Christopher Roman; April 13th, 1985) (Elmwood Park, New Jersey), is a transgender American reality television personality, model, and burlesque performer, known for appearing on the third season of the Logo reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race, as well as its spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U. Although she identified as male during the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race, on May 1, 2012, ABC News reported that Carrera identifies as a transgender woman.

Contents   
1 RuPaul's Drag Race
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 References

RuPaul's Drag Race

See also: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)
Known for being one of the "Heathers" (a clique composed of Carrera, Raja, Manila Luzon, and Delta Work; taking its name from the popular cult film, Heathers), Carrera is the second contestant in the history of the show (after season three cast-mate, Shangela) to rejoin the cast after being eliminated. In episode 10, "RuPaul-a-Palooza", Carrera was eliminated for her performance while singing a reggae-inspired cover of RuPaul's song "Superstar." Judges Michelle Visage, Santino Rice, and Billy Brasfield voted to re-invite Carrera to the competition in episode 12, "Jocks in Frocks." Subsequently, Carrera was eliminated in that episode after styling a muscular male athlete in her own signature, "nude"-style of drag.

Career

The November 2011 issue of W featured a series of fictional products in realistically styled advertisements as part of an issue-wide art project. Carrera was featured in the series as the face for the fictional fragrance La Femme. In 2011, Carrera, along with third season Drag Race contestants Manila Luzon and Shangela Laquifa Wadley, appeared in a television commercial for the travel-related website Orbitz.
Carrera has also been active in AIDS awareness and activism. After being featured in a Gilead Sciences ad entitled "Red Ribbon Runway" with fellow Drag Race co-stars Manila Luzon, Delta Work, Shangela Laquifa Wadley, and Alexis Mateo, the dress she wore was auctioned by Logo in commemoration of World AIDS Day. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the National Association of People with AIDS.
Carrera appeared as a "drag professor" in two episodes of the second season of RuPaul's Drag U. In the episode "80s Ladies," she gave singer Stacey Q a confidence-boosting makeover.
In an episode of the ABC news program Primetime: What Would You Do? that aired on May 4, 2012, Carrera portrayed the role of a transgender server working in a New Jersey diner. An actor playing a customer berates Carrera's character regarding his past experience of being served by her when she had presented as male, prompting other customers to come to Carrera's defense. This program also marked the first occasion in which Carrera publicly revealed herself to be transgender.
On June 11, 2012, Carrera appeared in an episode of the TLC series Cake Boss, "Bar Mitzvah, Beads & Oh Baby!", in which she unknowingly participated in a prank involving "Cousin Anthony" Bellifemine, the cousin of "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro, who was set up with a date with Carrera. The punchline of the joke had Buddy tell Anthony that "...that's a man, baby!" Carrera, however, originally agreed to appear on the program to promote equality for the transgender community, not aware that she would be involved in a joke. Following the airing of the program, Carrera complained about the situation on Facebook:
By calling me a 'MAN' promotes ignorance and makes it ok to call transgender women, men. PEOPLE GET BULLIED, BEAT UP, AND KILLED FOR BEING TRANS BECAUSE OF THIS IGNORANCE! ... I made it VERY clear to the producers on how to use the correct wording before agreeing to filming this but instead they chose to poke fun and be disrespectful. Thats not what Im about! ... I may not have been born a woman, but im  NOT a man. I told them I wouldn't mind if they said 'born male' or 'was a male'. After taking this journey it's not fair at all to be lied to by the producers.

Buddy has since apologised for the incident, saying that "I owe an apology to the entire LGBT community. It was absolutely not my intention to upset or offend her, or anyone within the community, and I was wrong to use the words I did. I am a supporter of gay rights and equality, and while I regret this situation and my choice of words, I am thankful to have received this feedback and the opportunity to learn from this mistake. I hope that Carmen accepts my sincere regrets." The following day, on June 12, 2012, TLC announced that "Bar Mitzvah, Beads & Oh Baby!" has been pulled from rotation indefinitely; the network has plans to re-edit the episode for future broadcast.

Personal life


Carrera was in a domestic partnership with Adrian Torres since 2009, but she announced in 2013 that they had separated. During filming of the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race, Carrera had identified as a gay man, but began to identify as a woman as of May 2012. She is of Puerto Rican ancestry.

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