And while the process can be rife with challenges, it is truly life-changing.
WWE star Gabbi Tuft can still recall the moment she embraced every last part of herself. Three months ahead of her facial feminization surgery, she had to stop getting Botox and allow any fillers to dissolve so that the surgeon could get an accurate picture.
“I realized at that very moment, I had three months to get right with myself,” Gabbi reflected to E! News in 2024. “I looked in the mirror and I asked myself, ‘If for any reason, this surgery didn’t go through, would I be able to live the rest of my life like this?'”
The answer was a resounding yes. “I don’t care what I look like, I love me,” she explained. “I’m a great human. My family loves me, my friends love me, I have a great time wherever I go. I’m helping people change their lives, like, it doesn’t matter what I look like. And then I started to venture out as me, no makeup, no hair, just whatever my body was at the time. And I slowly became comfortable with that.”
She’s not alone in sharing her experience of transitioning in the public eye. As we celebrate Pride Month, we’re honoring the stars who have spoken candidly about the process in the hopes of helping others live as their most authentic selves.Â