About Me

I'm Corey Rae, an activist, actress, consultant, model, producer, speaker, writer - and many other things :) Thank you for taking the time to be here! Often people find themselves on my site to learn more about my personal story and the transgender community on a deeper level.  CoreyRae.com was born from my desire to make a monumental difference, and to come out… again. 

I say “again” because as you’ll read in “My Transition,” I transitioned in high school and then kept it a secret for five years, out of concern for my safety during college. In my first ever blog post, I re-introduced myself, and since then, have dedicated my life to representing transgender women in a positive light through various platforms. I’ve made my own dreams come true by transitioning, becoming the world’s first transgender prom queen, falling in-love (and much more…)

In January 2017, another dream came true when I boarded a one-way flight to Los Angeles, my hometown, in the hopes of ‘making it’ in Hollywood. In 2019, my high school prom story was acquired and is now in pre-production as a feature film, titled QUEEN. I’m an Executive Producer of the movie and am VERY excited to bring it to the world sometime in the near future. By telling stories through the entertainment industry, I want to prove that transgender people can be smart, sexy, and supported — when given the opportunity.

My ultimate goal is to help change the world for the better, and I want to help both transgender and cisgender people become their best selves. I’ve made it my mission to break stigmatizations surrounding the transgender community by being my true, authentic self and living it out loud. I aim to inform the cisgender community on what it’s like to be transgender, and to change their perceptions of our community.  I offer support to individuals that struggle with their gender identity, the transition process, coming out, and feeling like their most beautiful selves.

I have both a strong academic knowledge and personal experience with the LGBTQIA+ community. I minored in sociology with an emphasis on gender and sexuality at Hofstra University and the University of Amsterdam.

I’m no stranger to public speaking, and have spoken at many conferences and corporations including Hilton, Lululemon, Verizon, and MAKERS. I was an IPSY beauty brand ambassador, modeling in their first campaign, “Discover Yourself.” My ads and billboards had popular placements in LA — on Melrose Place, La Brea Ave, and Olympic Blvd. By modeling, I’ve been able to prove that transgender women are beautiful. 

In my blog, I’m Corey Rae, and other Published Articles, I write about my journey, illustrating some of my life experiences, and hoping to inspire acceptance, authenticity, and confidence. I also share the stories of inspiring LGBTQIA+ members on my Profiles section. I previously wrote a monthly advice column for trans women on Stylecaster that I am incredibly proud of — please check it out!

Over the past few years, I’ve worked on social media partnerships with corporations and brands that are good for both people and the planet. Along with helping the LGBTQIA+ community, I continue to promote vegan, cruelty-free, non-toxic, eco-friendly products from industries in beauty, fashion, fitness, health, wellness, and skincare. You can view (& shop) all of my fav items here!

Today, I’m focused on expanding my acting, screen-writing, and directing career. I want to make sure I’ve done my part for marginalized communities in Hollywood— because representation does matter.

I hope you feel safe on my site. Safe to research, ask questions, and evolve. It’s important that we all continue to better ourselves, and “come correct” to situations where you need to stand up for the LGBTQIA+ community. Here, I hope you find some of the tools to do so. Please scroll further for more detail on my transition story.

Lots of Love,

Corey Rae

My Transition

I was born transgender, in Los Angeles, California, but lived primarily in New Jersey and New York for 17 years. I’ve always expressed my femininity, and asked my mom for Barbie’s and a Cinderella dress at the age of two! She gave them to me, because she wanted her child to be happy, no matter what. My mom defended me when teachers and parent’s questioned my behavior, or told me I couldn’t play dress up during recess and “free play.” When we moved to the east coast, I was in second grade and very impressionable. The closed minded-ness of the world we lived in led me to hide my true self the best I could, but it didn’t last for long.

I found the term transgender in 2006 while reading People Magazine, and I instantly identified with it. Until that point, I thought I was the only person in the entire world who felt the way I did, not identifying with what the doctor assigned me at birth. I soon after showed the article to my mom and told her I wanted to be a girl — but that was easier said than done. It took my mom years to find someone who would take me, a kid, on as a client.

I started my transition in the fall of 2009, I was 16, a junior in high school. My mom asked if I wanted to wear her clothes to school, and I obviously said, “Yes!” In the winter of that year my mom finally found a therapist who would see me , Dr. Margie Nichols, Founder of the IPG Center.

After our first session, Margie affirmed that I was transgender, and my transition slowly continued. By the spring of 2010, I had almost shoulder length hair and was wearing nail polish, jewelry, mascara, and a bra with lots of padding! With new-found confidence, I decided to try and make one of my dreams come true by running for Prom Queen. I was nominated, and became the world’s first openly transgender woman to win the title.

With one year left of high school, I had my first real kiss, grew out my hair even more, and tried to find my own personal style. In the spring of 2011, I started estrogen, and it was one of the most nerve-wracking yet exciting experiences of my life.

After high school, I lived stealth for five years, which means I didn’t disclose my transition to anyone, as my family and I were concerned for my safety in college. I attended Hofstra University and majored in public relations with a minor in sociology. In those four years, I had gender affirmation surgery, made friends for life, had relationships with men, studied abroad in Amsterdam, and even fell in love. I finally felt like a “normal college girl.”  

In 2015, my last semester of college, Caitlyn Jenner shared her story. I instantly knew people would continue their perception of trans women based on her, and that didn’t sit right with me. I would be around people who would talk about Caitlyn and trans people with such distaste, and I thought to myself, “If only they knew I’m transgender. They’ve treated me normally, so why not all of us?” Drawing from my own experiences, I knew trans women can be young, beautiful, fun, smart, sexy, supported, successful, and loved. Alas, I did nothing about it.

For a year, I worked in New York nightlife and hospitality, trying to figure out what my next move was. I was still living stealth, and wondering how I could tell my story. I was tired of separating those who knew me before and after high school, and wanted to take the weight of two worlds off my shoulders. I decided to write a book to “come out” through. At the same, I had started designing a website for my online modeling portfolio. 

On June 12th, 2016 there was a mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fl. It was the first attack on the LGBTQIA+ community in my adult lifetime, and it really affected me. I realized I needed to expedite the process of “coming out” because the world needed to be educated on how to treat the community. I knew becoming a famous model and writing a best-selling book would take longer than I had patients for. So, I meshed the first chapter of the book with my modeling portfolio and the result became my blog, I’m Corey Rae here on CoreyRae.com. I came out publicly through my first blog post, “Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself” and promoted it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I felt a huge sense of relief to finally tell everyone my truth and start to speak up for my community. The next day, my story went viral when Yahoo! syndicated my blog post and interviewed me for their own article, titled, “First Transgender Prom Queen Opens Up About Transitioning Before It Was Trendy”

And just like that, this new part of my life blossomed!

I continue to share my story through my website, social media, speaking engagements, and other story-telling mediums. I want trans people to know that transitioning, being happy, and dreams coming true are possible. It can get better. It will get better.