MUNROE BERGDORF

‘it’s not just about one group doing all the work, it’s about all of us doing it’

MUNROE BERGDORFIS

twirling around in a Valentino floral dress on the Grazia photo shoot, laughing and living her best life. And why shouldn’t she? ‘So much of my work is showing that trans women are normal people. We are multifaceted. I can do Playboy and a Ted Talk. Women are underestimated as a gender, but trans women are especially underestimated,’ she says.

The model, who has become a prominent face of the trans rights movement, alongside other global voices such as writer Janet Mock and actress Laverne Cox, has spent the past 10 years of her career speaking out about issues around trans equality, inclusivity and feminism, amassing a social media following of more than 228,000 people in the process, and in turn building a community of engaged change agents in the making.

‘I transitioned 10 years ago at a time when there wasn’t a lot of information about what it means to be trans out there. So I ended up having to speak up for myself and it just became second nature,’ she says. ‘The act of speaking up has been so heavily intertwined with my identity, simply because there aren’t a lot of us out there. But it does become frustrating having to explain yourself, not just once but every single day. You become exhausted.’

So Munroe relies on her vast community of allies to bolster her when the trolls – and as a trans woman of colour, she faces many – inevitably attack. ‘If I didn’t have the support of other black women, the queer community and other trans people it would be extremely

difficult. It’s about not going it alone.’

She says this is the key to creating change, whether it be in

the fight against climate crisis or in

the quest to build a more inclusive fashion industry. ‘It’s not just about one group doing all the work, it’s about all of us doing it. Systemic oppression has always been organised. If we hope to overthrow that we need to work together. It’s about not going it alone.’