Briana Benavides
Hockey player-turned-professional model Briana Benavides was plucked from her Detroit high school at the age of 16 when a stylist happened to be in the audience during a performance at her local theater. “I never looked at myself as a model,” Benavides says. “I always saw myself as awkwardly tall and lanky. But I decided to give it a shot. I had so much fun at the shoot that I chose to pursue it and see where it led me, so I guess it was something that I just sort of fell into.” Since then, Benavides has appeared on “Project Runway” and in print and commercial campaigns, while also being a visibly out and proud member of the LGBTQ community, which is what she finds “the most rewarding.” “I am very fortunate that the fashion industry has grown to be very LGBT-friendly so I think if anything it has affected my success in a very positive way,” she says. Benavides hopes that she can also be proof that there’s no one way to “look like a lesbian,” which is a comment she’s received too many times to count. “It’s really hard not being taken seriously or having people think that you’re ‘doing it for attention’ because of the way you look,” she says. “You don’t have to look, act or dress any certain way to fit any stereotype. No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning your authentic self.” —TB
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