( CNN ) -- Monday is International Transgender Day of Visibility , and the day I have chosen to `` come out '' as transgender . We are all assigned a gender at birth . Sometimes that assignment does n't match our inner truth , and there needs to be a new place -- a place for self-identification . I was not born a boy , I was assigned boy at birth . Understanding the difference between the two is crucial to our culture and society moving forward in in the way we treat -- and talk about -- transgender individuals . One of my earliest memories is from 5 years old . I used to drape T-shirts on my head , and would delight in feeling the fabric on my back . My mom asked me , `` why do you always wear a T-shirt on your head ? '' I responded , `` It 's not a T-shirt , Mom -- this is my hair . '' Growing up the Philippines , I was involved in transgender beauty pageants from the age of 15 . In Asian cultures , the fluidity of gender has been part of life for thousands of years , evidenced by the Buddhist Goddess of compassion , GuanYin and the Hindu hijra Goddess , Bahuchara Mata , who is sacred to men who want to be cured of impotence , and to women wanting to become pregnant . Yet despite this nuanced understanding , and despite the pageant culture I grew up in , in many countries , fluidity is celebrated but not politically recognized . A personal turning point came in 2005 , a year before I became a U.S. citizen , when I was traveling through Tokyo . Back then , I still had my Philippines passport and my former male gender marker , but I presented as a woman . I was taken into the immigration office at the airport and questioned for hours about my identity . I have friends in the Philippines -- where there is no law that allows them to change their name and marker -- that have these experiences every time they travel . It 's dehumanizing . When I first moved to the United States to work as a model , and I finally had the opportunity to change my name and gender marker , I felt as though my outside self finally matched my inner truth . I really felt like I 'd made it but , over time , I realized that there 's a lot of work that needs to be done and that I was only just beginning . Today I am launching Gender Proud , which envisions a world where transgender individuals are able to self-identify with the fewest possible barriers . In most of the Western world , conceptions of gender remain very rigid , but that exists alongside progressive legal systems that afford transgender individuals some limited rights . There are varying differences of understanding between Eastern and Western cultures , and I hope Gender Proud can create a new understanding . We are partnering with All Out to identify countries where legislation is at a `` tipping point , '' and we plan to funnel resources to on-the-ground activists and organizations working to create change . There 's a long history of people within the community who stood up and fought for justice . I was inspired by the trailblazers , such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and by organizations , including the Association of Transgender in the Philippines , Transgender Europe , Global Action for Trans Equality , among others . I believe that a more mature and in-depth contemplation of the subject of transgender will be the bridge that leads humanity to a deeper understanding of gender as a whole . This deeper understanding begins with the realization that we live in a culture that assigned us gender at birth and that the appropriate roles and expectations of our gender are defined by our society and our culture . In today 's globally connected and ever-diversifying world , culture is now more fluid and more flexible than ever -- and so too should be our understanding and perception of gender . To learn more , please visit www.genderproud.com .
Model Geena Rocero : I was not born a boy , I was assigned `` boy '' at birth . My parents were very supportive of my gender identity and they didn't try to change me or force it on me. Rocero launching movement to change perceptions about transgender people . Rocero : In the West , gender perceived rigidly , laws provide some protections .