Cienna Rose is a Yonkers native who is not asking for a spotlight. At 24, she has already created her own.
From her home in Tampa, she beams a message to nearly a quarter million followers across platforms: that trans joy, beauty, and brilliance are not exceptions — they are realities. “I contribute by living openly as a trans woman,” she says. “I strive to be the proof that nothing is unattainable — queer, gay, transgender — no matter what you identify as.”
A full-time content creator and social media activist, Rose has turned her journey into a movement. Her videos are not just aspirational — they are healing, raw, and unapologetically real. “Softness and strength can coexist,” she says. “I embody both.”
In 2025, she feels the LGBTQIA+ community has reached a new kind of visibility. “We are in the spotlight now — proudly, boldly, without apology,” Rose says. “There are so many beacons of trans and queer excellence.” She credits icons like Dominique Jackson, Amaya Scott, Carmen Carrera, Hunter Schafer, and Alex Consani — women who have carved space in fashion, entertainment, and media. “They showed us that dreams are not just dreams — they are blueprints.”
But visibility, she warns, is not protection.
Rose is direct about the gaps in the community she loves. “I do not feel like we are doing enough to protect our most vulnerable,” she says. “Too often, there is this fight over who has it worse — when really, the fight should be bettering all of us. There are so many different walks of life under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella that there is always more to learn — even within our own circles.”
It is the outside world, though, that has posed the biggest challenges for her. The perception that trans excellence is out of reach — that joy, success, and softness are somehow unattainable — is one she confronts daily. “I overcome that by being myself,” she says. “Walking in my light, letting God lead my path.”
To her, Pride is not a month. It is a mindset. “Pride means power, strength, resilience. It means standing strong no matter the adversity,” she says.
For the next generation of trans youth stepping into their truth, she has a message: “Be patient with yourself. Walk the path that feels the most authentic to you. Block out anything that is not helping you, healing you, or cheering you on.”
Then she adds, with the confidence of someone who’s earned her place: “You are special. You are important. You are loved. You are valued. And the sky is the f***ing limit. I mean that.”
Cienna Rose is not just telling her story — she is changing the narrative.
