Carmen Carrera

Carmen Carrera at New York Fashion Week 2011

**Carmen Carrera** is an American actress, model, and H.I.V./A.I.D.S. activist, best known for her appearance on the LOGO reality show *RuPaul's Drag Race* and its spinoff *RuPaul's Drag U*.

## Career

On June 11, 2012, she appeared on TLC's *Cake Boss*, where she was subject to a 'prank' by "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro. Unaware of the situation prior, she agreed to appear in order to promote transgender awareness and acceptance; however, she was set up on a date with "Cousin Anthony" Bellifemine, the cousin of the "Cake Boss", who was told by Valastro "that's a man, baby!". Bellifemine later replied on Twitter to another user in regards to a kiss that appeared on the show, referring to her with the pronoun "it".

She posted about her experience on Facebook, stating: "Im so upset right now, I cant stop crying. My heart truly hurts. I need people to understand that I KNOW I was born male and not ashamed of it. I wouldn’t of cared if they said I was born male or USED TO BE male. 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! There was a time it was like that for gay people, even for some ethnic groups. Its not ok to call a gay person a fag, its not ok to call a spanish person a spic, its not ok to call a black person a nigger. THIS IS THE SAME TYPE OF THING. 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! Please voice your opinion."

She later posted again, this time explaining her intentions of appearing on the show: "Im really trying to be a positive role model for trans people and it upsets me that after I SPECIFICALLY asked the producers of “Cake Boss” NOT to disrespect me or trans people. Before I agreed to do this show, I was assured and then reassured that it wasn’t going to be like the JERRY SPRINGER show or MAURY. Let me make this clear. CALLING A TRANSGENDER WOMAN A MAN IS WRONG. Period. Its degrading, its rude, and its very hurtful. I may not have been born a woman, but im NOT a man. I told them I would mind if they said “born male” or “was a male”. After taking this journey its not fair at all to be lied to by the producers. PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG. EDUCATE AND PROMOTE EQUALITY AND RESPECT!!!!!!!"

A petition was created on Change.org for an apology on behalf of the transgender community. Valastro and TLC apologized, with Valastro himself apologizing personally to Carrera. TLC removed the episode from rotation, though stated it may reappear with the scene removed or edited.

In 2014, Carrera and Laverne Cox were interviewed by Katie Couric, who referred to transgender people as 'transgenders', on her show *Katie*. Couric had asked Carrera about genital reassignment surgery ; Carrera 'shushed' Couric, then stated "I don’t wanna talk about it... it’s really personal." Couric then turned the question over to Cox, who also rebuffed her and spoke regarding the fixation of transgender people's genitals. News outlets criticized Couric's behavior, calling it 'invasive' and 'clueless'. Carrera was also featured on the fifth anniversary cover of transgender fashion magazine *Candy*, alongside Gisele Alicea, Leyna Bloom, Laverne Cox, Pêche Di, Juliana Huxtable, Isis King, Niki M'nray, Dina Marie, Janet Mock, Yasmine Petty, Nina Poon, Geena Rocero, and Carmen Xtravaganza.

## Personal life

Carrera was born in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, raised by her mother, grandmother and older sister after her father died of A.I.D.S. when she was two. She is of Peruvian and Puerto Rican descent.

Carrera started transition after filming for R*uPaul's Drag Race* ended, and publicly came out on the ABC show *Primetime: What Would You Do?* in an episodewhere she portrayed a transgender waitress being berated by a transphobic patron.

She is also an A.I.D.S. activist, appearing in a Gilead Sciences H.I.V. awareness advertisement, "Red Ribbon Runway". The dress she wore in the ad was later auctioned on World A.I.D.S. Day, with proceeds going to the National Association of People with A.I.D.S. In 2014, she appeared in a poster, posing as both Adam and Eve, for the Life Ball.

She was in a relationship with Adrian Torres, later splitting up in 2013. They later got back together, and in 2015, they appeared on VH1's *Couples Therapy with Dr. Jenn*. They wed June 10, 2015, which appeared in the season finale. This made Carrera the first openly transgender person to get married on television. They have one child.

### Social media

* Facebook
* Instagram
* Twitter

## Filmography

### Television

 *RuPaul's Drag U* | Herself
 *Primetime: What Would You Do?* | Herself

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20120503041656/http://www.logotv.com/shows/rupauls\_drag\_race/season\_3/series.jhtml#
2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111230023017/http://www.logotv.com/shows/rupauls\_drag\_u/season\_2/series.jhtml
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cake-boss-carmen-carrera-transphobic-joke\_n\_1591366
4. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/carmencarrerafans/posts/428082943892261
5. ↑ https://www.change.org/p/tlc-s-cake-boss-publicly-apologize-to-the-transgendered-community
6. ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/carmen-carrera-discusses\_n\_1599651
7. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2012-jun-13-la-et-st-carmen-carrera-cake-boss-tlc-transgender-20120613-story.html
8. ↑ https://starktimes.com/carmen-carrera/
9. ↑ http://dirty-mag.com/v2/?p=17044
10. ↑ http://www.salon.com/2014/01/07/laverne\_cox\_artfully\_shuts\_down\_katie\_courics\_invasive\_questions\_about\_transgender\_people/
11. ↑ http://www.salon.com/2014/02/06/laverne\_cox\_i\_could\_easily\_be\_a\_trans\_woman\_who\_was\_fighting\_for\_her\_life/
12. ↑ http://www.newnownext.com/laverne-cox-carmen-carrera-on-candy-magazine-cover/12/2014/
13. ↑ https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/carmen-carrera-shares-her-powerful-story-dealing-with-family-and-friends-with-hiv-aids/vi-AAfVkUc
14. ↑ https://www.wmagazine.com/story/carmen-carrera-transgender-performer-autobiographical-essay
15. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-gascot/carmen-carrera-interview\_b\_840891.html
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 http://www.newnownext.com/carmen-carrera-divorce-interview-rupauls-drag-race/01/2013/
17. ↑ https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/05/patrons-defend-transgender-waitress-at-n-j-diner/
18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b4UinLoySY
19. ↑ http://www.newnownext.com/world-aids-day-red-ribbon-runway-auction/12/2011/
20. ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/david-lachapelle-carmen-carrera\_n\_5317360.html
21. ↑ https://people.com/tv/carmen-carrera-wedding-video-and-photos-of-the-couples-therapy-star/
22. ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/carmen-carrera-discusses\_n\_1599651