Gracing the cover of a magazine or being the showstopper of an event sounds like a dream to every model. However, it is not that easy to celebrate authenticity, diversity, and self-expression through a magazine that inspires women around the world. Playboy, the famous American men’s magazine on lifestyle and entertainment, has a new centerfold that is setting the internet on fire. She is Sydney Sarayeva, blazing the trail in the modeling world as a transgender woman.
Sydney Sarayeva is a model, actress, writer, content creator, and influencer. Her story, unlike other models in the industry, doesn’t start with a love for ramps and fashion. She experienced hardships that the world sees and hears about today in newspapers, magazines, and journals. Just like any other transgender person trying to find a space in society, Sydney has struggled and fought to carve her place in the modeling industry and have people accept her for who she is.
As a transgender model and actress trying to pursue her passion, Sydney was stigmatized everywhere. She overcame discrimination, isolation, and rejection and was even denied many opportunities as a transgender woman. Now she is on her way to creating a platform where she can influence the world and become a voice for many transgender women facing similar challenges. According to Sydney, the world is divided into two sections of people, one that supports equal rights and opportunities for transgender men and women and the other that don’t accept them. She believes that the truth lies in the middle of these two polarizing sides, which is somewhere we all can agree as humans.
Sydney wants to share her story with the world to let transgender women know that they are not alone in facing these ordeals. From experiencing scandalous situations at castings to being exploited at highly publicized shoots just because she had no agent to speak for her interest, Sydney has experienced it all. While she expected to get strong characters to play, she ended up being only the love interest as an actress. This is where she wants to change the picture. She wants to reflect the real side of transgender women to the world, which is quite different from what is portrayed on television for entertainment purposes.
In just a short span of her career as a model, Sydney has already achieved a series of milestones, proving her talent in the profession. She has been represented by Le Drew Models, one of the top agencies in Toronto. Sydney is a part of ACTRA, the national actors union in Canada. Besides being a well-known face as the first transgender model for the Sally Hansen Beauty campaign, Shetopia. She was also the face of the #EveryWoman Campaign, which was featured in Vice, and led to a feature in Dare Magazine. She also represented several brands for Knix.
Apart from a successful career as a model, Knix authored an article sharing her experience as an actor for the online Canadian theater publication, Intermission Magazine. Looks like the young and talented model doesn’t want to limit her career opportunities only to the fashion and entertainment industries. Sydney has bigger dreams for the future and will continue to inspire more transgender women to believe in themselves and their talent, ignoring how the world perceives them.
New York Herald 