“It feels like I've been wearing like a mask my whole life,” Westling told CNN. And removing it was liberating. “It's been an incredible journey,” said the 22-year-old.

Growing up in Arizona, Westling says he felt different to the other girls on the preschool playground. Many adults from his hometown viewed homosexuals and transgender people as freaks, according to Westling, who blames ignorance.

Westling’s modelling career kicked off in 2014 when, as Natalie, his hair was dyed red for a Marc Jacobs campaign involving Miley Cyrus. A muse to designers like Nicolas Ghesquière, Westling’s last showing before taking testosterone was last year at Paris Fashion Week for Louis Vuitton.

2. Casil McArthur

Before fashion model Casil McArthur identified as a man, he would look up trans models and never find male examples. McArthur worried whether, if he transitioned from a woman to a man, his career would falter.

In late 2015, no longer able to stand modelling as a female, McArthur turned to testosterone.

Now, the content hub Mic rates McArthur as one of the top trans male models in the industry. “I think I’ll be a better model now than I ever could have been as a female,” he toldTeen Voguein 2017.

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McArthur’s manager, Greg Chan, says he is groundbreaking in the industry, being the first high-fashion trans male model.

In December 2015, Chan received a request from Interview magazine for an unknown, exciting new model. “And I took a risk to pitch something completely different to them in Casil,” Chan says, adding that, soon after, McArthur took off like a rocket.

“I’m proud that Casil's work has opened the door for all of the fantastic trans male models today, as they have their own powerful stories to tell.”

3. Loren Rex Cameron

The American transsexual photographer pursues self-portraiture in nude and clothed form.

Raised in rural Arkansas, America, Loren Rex Cameron grew up as a tomboy on a farm. By 16, Cameron identified as a lesbian, prompting homophobic small town abuse. While identifying as a woman, he then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and was part of the local lesbian community, but at the age of 26 began transitioning.

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Now, in photographs he boasts bulging biceps, facial hair and tattoos. Cameron has posed for photographers such as portraitist Amy Arbus and the gay rights activist Daniel Nicoletta.

On his LinkedIn profile, Cameron touts his ability to convey the transsexual experience compassionately, from an insider viewpoint.

4. Laith Ashley 

Bearded Laith Ashley was once a churchgoing girl who would imitate her father. At school, he was a budding sports star, so he would play sports on the boys’ team. Ashley, however, felt constantly pressured to excel.

While still identifying as a woman, Ashley realised he was interested in women, so he prayed for his homosexual feelings to go away. When Ashley was 17, his aunt caught him dating a girl online and told Ashley's mother.

Despite the row that followed, Ashley continued living with his parents until he reached 24 and decided to have a double mastectomy and testosterone shots.

Within a year, Ashley had a beard and a deep voice. The new man's modelling career launched when he posted photos of him in Calvin Klein briefs to Instagram.

He served as the first trans male in the “pit crew” on the television show RuPaul’s Drag Race, and graced a Diesel fashion advertising campaign. Publication Vice described him as“sultry, powerful, and [looks] like he works out more than a gold medal Olympian”.

Ashley told British GQ: “For a long time, we were taught that femininity for men was something that could be degrading or decreases what it means to be a man. And I think it actually makes you a more rounded, a more complete person. Just be yourself; own who you are.”

5. Kenny Ethan Jones

Kenny Ethan Jones, or Kej, is noted for fronting a campaign meant to combat the stigma about menstruation, called “I’m on”.

The brawny Jones was just 16 when he changed names to “Kenny” and shaved his head. Jones was sent to a psychiatrist while attending an all-girls school for refusing to wear a skirt.

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At 17, Jones started taking hormone blockers. At 20, he sprouted stubble and began feeling good about his physique, although he still suffered menstrual cramps.

“It gets easier! I promise,” he told the content hub De Lune. “I have been there. Accept that it’s just a very small cost for you becoming the man you know you are meant to be.”

6. Buck Angel

Transgender activist Buck Angel started out as a female model but felt unfulfilled. Now Angel is a motivational speaker, filmmaker, activist and sex-kit entrepreneur.

He has produced a sex toy, Buck-off, touted as the first designed for transgender men. He also helped create a special lubricant.

“I'm hoping that T-Lube will bring the conversation around to the medical world, which will then bring the conversation around to men with vaginas, so they will not feel so disconnected … It is totally normal to be a man with a vagina,” he says in the promotional clip.

Originally a Los Angeles “Valley girl”, Angel assumed a surf-dude look but was pressured to wear a dress, with damaging results. During his subsequent modelling career, while he still identified as a woman, he became hooked on drugs, wound up homeless, and prostituted himself for cocaine until a friend put him in rehab.

Angel started transitioning to his professed “G.I. Joe” identity in 1994. “It is always important to have visibility for every type of person. Trans male models help to not only educate the world but also help other trans men feel a part of a community,” he tells the Post.