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CeCé Telfer knows you’re curious about her. In 2019, the Olympic hopeful became the first openly transgender person to win an NCAA Championship and immediately found herself at the center of a national debate over who belongs in women’s sports. “I’m a walking controversy,” she says.
Since then, she’s written a book, fought the World Athletics ban barring trans women (but not trans men) from competing, and used her growing platform to fight for more visibility and understanding in the women’s sports community and beyond.
“I feel like people support me [as a transgender individual] but then that’s compromised [when they learn I’m a transgender athlete],” Telfer says. “Even some friends and acquaintances—when I ask them honestly how they feel about transgender women in sports, they’re like ‘I don’t think it’s right.’ These are good people. It breaks my heart because they don’t know what I go through on a daily basis just to exist, let alone [the rules I follow] to fight to compete.”
Telfer welcomes these conversations.
“Please be honest. Please tell me that you think [allowing transgender women to compete] is not okay,” she says. “I’ll always be here for education.” Unlearning bias often starts with having a conversation, she says. “Once you have this education, it's up to you to choose whether you want to uplift and elevate others.”
Like many women athletes, Telfer is a multi-hyphenate—partly out of desire and partly out of necessity. In addition to being a professional athlete, she’s an author, a model, and an increasingly vocal advocate for women’s rights. She’s also a part-time cashier at Whole Foods—a role which has turned out to be a surprisingly powerful way to have an impact in her community. “Little girls are always like ‘She looks like a princess, she has mermaid hair!’ They love me,” Telfer says. “I see so many of those little babies inspire their own parents to change their mindset when they see their kids being so accepting and loving. That’s beautiful.”
In everything she does, Telfer brings her full self. “I have nothing to hold back. I'm here to show people who I am and teach them about people like me,” she says. “We are daughters. We are sisters. We want love and acceptance just like you. And we want to be seen.”
For Glamour’s new Face of Change series, Telfer opens up about her fight to make sports more inclusive, her new book, and why Harriet Tubman is her role model.
Glamour: You recently published your first book. Congrats! It’s a rollercoaster. What do you hope readers take from it?
CeCé Telfer: It's a whirlwind for sure. What I want is for more people who have not been introduced to a transgender person to understand what it's like. I always get a text or a DM after people have read the first few pages that’s like “I’m crying.” And I’m like if you only knew what living it is like. But to feel that strong emotion right off the bat? You’re getting it.
What’s your morning routine?
I start every day reminding myself of how lucky I am to be alive. After taking a moment to myself, I wash up and brush my teeth immediately—I hate morning breath.
What are the work essentials you always bring to the gym?
Headphones. If I forget headphones, nothing is going to get done and I’m going to be mad the whole time. I also bring the right attitude. I’m not here to waste time, I’m here to make it count. And I have to look a little cutesy. Look good, feel good, dominate, win. You know what I mean?
What’s your favorite gym outfit?
I like Nike because they are the superior brand. Lately, I like wearing skorts because they trick people—it’s like I’m giving lady tennis player but really she’s a track star. So a cute little skort with a sports bra. Nike has these cute bra-looking sports bras and I’m all about it.
What is the best career advice that you've ever gotten?
The best career advice that I've ever gotten is to keep my head up. Because it's always going to be hard. Nothing comes easy. So leave everything that you have at the door because when you clock in, honey, it's game time.
How has your identity shaped your career?
My identity fuels me tremendously. The fact of the matter is when I walk out my door every day, I have to face the fact that I might not come home alive. That’s one thing history has taught me as a Black woman who happens to be transgender. To walk in my truth scares people. I keep holding my head high and try to show others my reality, my truth, my authenticity, and my realness.
So much of your fight for change is about visibility. How do you want people to see you?
I want people to see that maybe you can be born in the wrong body, that maybe this is possible. I want people to see that you can be born different and that there are ways to ask for help.
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And personally, I would just like to be seen as a lady. As very demure, very mindful. Because I really am.
How do you deal with setbacks in your career?
[After transgender women were banned from competing in track and field ahead of the Paris Olympics] I had to come to the realization that my success in athletics is not based upon my talent or how good I am. It’s always in the hands of somebody else—most likely a white man. That made it a little bit easier to process knowing that my talent will never speak for itself.
I try to just pick myself up, which is the hardest part, and move on. I tell myself that it's not the end of the world. I'm doing everything that I can do that is within my control and whatever that is out of my control, good riddance.
Where are you now in terms of your next stage training and career goals?
Right now I'm currently working to overrule the ban on transgender women in elite athletics. So that means competing [wherever I can] in addition to looking for sponsorships, coaches, and facilities. I'm [training for] the indoor track season this winter and I'm reinventing myself as an athlete, moving from hurdles to multiple events. It really makes my sport more fun and I deserve to have fun while I'm fighting.
What does self-care look like for you?
Self-care for me is going to the gym in a cute outfit—but when nobody's around—and just kicking ass and depleting my body. It’s also watching movies with my friends. Just eating and chilling and vibing out. I love listening to music, I love singing, I love to dance—I do all of that when I'm cooking, and that's when I make the best Jamaican cuisine. I love catering to other people and making people happy with food.
Who do you look to for inspiration?
Harriet Tubman, that's my girl. She showed not only the extent of what women can do, but the power of what women can do. I'm so used to seeing Black women put their lives at risk for a better society. We don’t have to do that. But that’s why I feel like [women like Tubman] are so inspirational. Because if not them, who? If not us, who? If not me, who?
How do you handle social media?
My tactic is to post and run. I do what I have to do and leave.
How do you hope your platform helps change perceptions of trans women in sports?
I would love to see women supporting all women, not just some women. Because the fight is against all women, not just some women. It's not going to stop at just banning transgender women in sports. This is about limiting [women’s] rights as people and as human beings. So I would love to see some more togetherness and support from our cis female community for our trans and non-binary community.
Anyone who fights for change has to balance frustration with optimism. What does that look like for you?
I expect a no, but at the same time I’m manifesting and staying positive. I'm still showing up. So that's like my superpower. You try to beat me down, but I'm still here.
