This is what Geena Rocero hopes to see in today's pageant candidates

Geena Rocero is all about beauty with a purpose.

From her roots as a Filipino beauty queen, she is now a supermodel and activist who speaks up about various issues, particularly on the rights of the transgender community.

In an interview with Kapuso reporters, Geena said that aside from their "authentic self," she hopes to see today's candidates and beauty queens "use their platform."

"What I would like to see in candidates joining pageants right now is to first be your most authentic self," she said. "And also the second part of that is share to the world what you care about, share your passion, your dreams, and not just, you know, the external aspects of what it means to be a beauty queen."

"I think a beauty queen now is given a platform that I think by using that platform, by speaking about things that you care about will make a difference," she added.

Geena joined countless pageants all around the Philippines as a teen and she was proud to say her first job was a "beauty queen." She moved to New York in 2005 when she was 17 to pursue a career in modeling.

After a successful eight-year career, Geena came out as transgender in no less than a TED Talk, saying that not even her agents knew that she was assigned male at birth.

She said that her journey to womanhood was nothing to make light of, but that she has "a degree of privilege."

"I wanna use the privilege and the platform that I've been given to speak about issues that I care about, about the trans community, and not just about trans people. I care about immigrant rights, I care about feminism, I care about climate change, that I'm not just a single issue person," she said.

"I care about so many things. And the certain privilege that I have is about using that wisely and speaking about it and living the life full of purpose in sharing what I care about," she added.

Asked why she was compelled to come out, Geena said, "I had enough."

"It's as simple as that. I had enough. I felt like I was living a bubble life. So I had head eczema. It manifested in my body and my skin because of stress. I've had enough. And I just listened to what was coming out on my body. So literally the stress of wanting to be myself was coming out on my body," she added.

She also said it was a way to honor her trans community in the Philippines, revealing that they have been helping her over the years.

"My trans mother Tiger Lily, my trans family in Mandaluyong City that had loved me and supported me, it was for them," she said.

"You know for many years I was in communication with them because I was in a closet so in a way to honor the love and support and how they've nurtured me as a young trans beauty queen in the Philippines. So it's a way to honor them," she added.

Geena is currently hosting Miss Universe Philippines 2020's "Ring Light" series, which premiered on September 27, and will culminate in the pageant's coronation night on October 25. — LA, GMA News