Last week saw the release of the first full-length trailer for Zoolander 2, featuring, among others, Benedict Cumberbatch as a gender-fluid model called All. This portrayal has been met with online criticism, with some LGBT groups labelling it as transphobic. A new petition, which has received more than 10,000 signatures, is calling for a boycott of the film. Transgender model Tschan Andrews, who transitioned five years ago and has been photographed by Juergen Teller and David Bailey, explains why the role is offensive and why she thinks the industry is still transphobic.

As a transgender model, does Zoolander 2’s portrayal of a gender-fluid model offend you?

I do find it quite offensive. It’s essentially a man in wig dressing as a trans woman. If there are trans models out there, why not let them play the role? If you are going to portray that story, you have a chance to investigate it and do it properly.

Its defenders say that the film is reflective of fashion’s recent acceptance of transgender models...

It’s timely to showcase it, but it’s a prime example of not understanding that actual experience. Even the name: All – that’s insulting. They want to reduce her to neither/or. And then asking if you have a hot dog or a bun, reducing the whole thing to genitalia ... It’s othering the person and just another example of transphobia and sensationalism in its truest form.

Would you play that role?

It’s enlightening, really, how being trans is a hot topic, and that it’s now become a buzzword. I would never take that role, though. Zoolander is a joke, I get it, but any trans model willing to do that would be laughed at. It’s hard enough to get a job as it is. It’s such a responsibility and it needs to not be turned into a joke.

When did you realise you identified as a woman?

I didn’t have this a-ha moment. It’s always been the case since I can remember. I’ve always worn makeup, I’ve always identified as this. Even when I was younger, people assumed I was a girl. My voice didn’t break until I was 17.

What was that like growing up?

Well, you have to remember there wasn’t a strong narrative in the media in the 1990s. There was no point of reference. People didn’t have the will to understand. My mother kicked me out when I was a teenager. I was homeless for a while before ending up with a wonderful foster family. But at school, it was horrific.

Really, I felt bullied up until three or four years ago. It’s just a pitfall of me being who I am, but you can fall into a black hole of depression. I had depressive moments that manifested themself into anxiety. If I’m on the tube – when people stare at me, I’m worrying that they think I’m a man. Being bullied so long, it stays in your brain.

It has also made me have empathy for outsiders – it has made me a better person – and if I was “normal”, I wouldn’t be me. When I was younger, my whole motivation was: these people are all losers. And it all came to fruition. Weirdly, my closest friends from school are all trans now. We all knew we were different, but we didn’t know why. That’s probably why we became friends.

How do you get into modelling?

I had a teacher at school who used to be a model, and he used to say I should be a model. I thought he was joking. When he used to tell me that, all I thought was: you’re being so mean. Then I started to go out in east London, pictures went up on Facebook and I started getting messages from casting directors. I was also in touch with the LGBT charity Albert Kennedy Trust at the time – they help LGBT people in London – and, as it happened, one of the directors of the charity used to be the men’s director of Models 1. I went in to meet them and they took me on. I was shot by David Bailey at 18/19, but I didn’t even know who he was.

After six months, they had to let me go because there was no such thing as a trans model. I was inspired by models like Connie Fleming and Teri Toye although transgender models still weren’t that common. Fashion was a small world then. Bear in mind their main client was Burberry – how would they present me? I tried to join an agency, and everyone was like: “no trans”. People didn’t understand what to do with me. I have an agency now, but most of the work I get is still via Facebook or comes from people just contacting me.

Have you noticed a shift in acceptance, especially since the success of models such as Australian model Andreja Pejić and Brazilian model Lea T?

In a way. The fashion industry has changed. It used to be a small world and now it has become a bigger system. I did a shoot for System magazine, something for Barneys in the US, for which I was shot by Juergen Teller. I was wearing JW Anderson and McQueen for that. I’m doing a something for Channel 4 with Grayson Perry, maybe something for Vice, too. I’d love to do catwalk, really. Hopefully, I will in time.

Do you think the fashion industry is still transphobic?

For me it is. Of course, that’s just my experience, but for example, in April I was asked to do a shoot for a magazine. When I turned up, they were all acting weirdly. Then they made me take my wig off, things like that – I get it, models are a blank canvas, but they removed every essence of trans-ness. I don’t want to reduce myself, to fill in the gaps. They made me wear thuggish clothes, and were all “act like a thug” – it felt racist and transphobic. The intersectionality – racism and transphobia – I cover two minorities.

Does being cast ever feel like tokenism?

There are a lot of people who would exploit their trans-ness. It sounds odd, but I’ve never been booked as a trans model. I’m booked because I’m a good model. I bring a presence to a shoot. The fact that I am trans is secondary.