Model Teddy Quinlivan Shares That She’s Trans In A Series Of Instagram Videos

Teddy Quinlivan posted something powerful on Instagram yesterday, ditching the aerial plate shot for something a little more personal.

Teddy, full name Theodora, disclosed that she’s trans in a series of three gorgeous-looking videos, per Dazed. Watch the clips, directed by Amber Grace Johnson, below.

My Name is Teddy I’m Transgender Director @agjnyc DP @chuk.town Producer @hannahstrauss Editors: @b_nawrocki & @uwishi_grant Production @matteprojects Director @agjnyc DP @chuk.town Producer @hannahstrauss Editors: @b_nawrocki & @uwishi_grant Production @matteprojects

A post shared by Theodora Quinlivan (@teddy_quinlivan) on Sep 13, 2017 at 8:01am PDT

“I always knew I was female,” Quinlivan says as old home videos cut to present-day confessionals. “I had to pretend to be male to appease everybody else. At one point, I just stopped giving a fuck.”

The 23-year-old modelwhom Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière discovered in 2015 and who has since walked for Prada, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Dior, and a bunch of other super big and impressive namesgoes on to say that she decided to share this information publicly because she owes it “to my community.”

“I want to help break the stigma [against trans people and being trans],” she says. “Being confident when everybody is trying to put you down is really fucking hard. I want to be the hero I never had growing up for somebody else.”

Her disclosure might normalize the idea of transness among cis people while making the idea of trans life seem possible for other trans people, essentially.

Quinlivan told INTO that she’s gotten tons of support over the past 24 hours, and she seems pretty happy with her decision to go public with this part of herself.

“I have received an amazingly positive response to my announcement,” she said. “I feel extremely grateful that so many people have voiced their support for my decision to disclose my authentic self. The hundreds of kind messages I’ve received are proof that speaking my truth has already made an impact. I feel very lucky that people have been so accepting. Every message I read from someone who has taken the time to write to me reminds me that I made the right decision to share my story.”