Gigi Gorgeous

1992–2007: Early life and diving career

Lazzarato is the child of David and Judith Lazzarato (née Belding). Her family consists of Italian, Lebanese, and French heritage and she was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.

As a young adult, Lazzarato was a nationally ranked diving champion. She attended St. Francis of Assisi School and later Mississauga's Iona Catholic Secondary School and attended George Brown College. At George Brown, she studied fashion, but eventually left the college to focus on her YouTube career. Her mother, Judith, died of leukemia on February 3, 2012, at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto.

2008–13: Beginnings on YouTube and The Avenue

Prior to her transition, Lazzarato was known as Gregory or Greg, and operated a makeup tutorial YouTube channel that was started in 2008. At the time, she identified as a gay male. Since her transition, her YouTube channel started to include more vlogs, fashion, and lifestyle videos. In January 2015, her YouTube channel reached over one million subscribers and over 130 million views.

On January 18, 2011, Lazarrato announced The Avenue, a YouTube-based reality series that she stated she was going to star in. The show premiered on March 15 of that year on YouTube with distribution by Blip. On April 14, 2013 the show's last episode aired.

2014–16: Modeling, television appearances, and Dubai deportation

Lazzarato has appeared on Project Runway: All Stars and E! Celebrity Style Story and has been featured on other YouTube celebrities' channels. She was awarded the LogoTV Trailblazing Social Creator Award in 2014 for her advocacy on behalf of LGBT youth. She frequently attends BeautyCon conventions to meet with fans and sit in on panels about makeup techniques and the cosmetics industry. She modeled for designer Marco Marco, and walked in the 2014 and 2015 Marco Marco Fashion Shows.

Lazzarato has used her internet celebrity status to bring awareness to transgender issues, the LGBT community, and anti-bullying. Her image was featured in a montage of transgender celebrities in the ABC 20/20 documentary about Caitlyn Jenner's transition.

In early 2015, Lazzarato starred in fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson's debut short film I Hate Myselfie as Amber. She said she looked to Rachel McAdams' portrayal of Regina George in Mean Girls (2004), while playing Amber. She has since reprised her role as Amber in I Hate Myselfie's sequel. In May, it was announced that Lazzarato would be partnering with Crest Canada to be the face of the new Crest 3D White Brilliance Line.

In June 2015, it was announced that Lazzarato had teamed up with singer Miley Cyrus and had joined Cyrus' Happy Hippie Foundation's Marie Claire "#InstaPride" campaign. The campaign included a series of photos and an announcement by Cyrus that she and Lazzarato were working on a secret project. The project later turned out to be a spread in American magazine Marie Claire featuring them both. Lazzarato signed a partnership with 'Too Faced Cosmetics' in which she starred in the cosmetic commercial film "Better Than Sex" which premiered on July 9, 2015. At the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards Lazzarato, along with a group of drag queens, introduced Miley Cyrus for her debut performance of Dooo It! from Cyrus's new album Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz.

In September, 2015, Lazzarato had a two-page spread in People magazine. She appeared on Entertainment Tonight as a special guest that same month. Lazzarato was featured in Kylie Jenner's app "Kylie" where she filmed several make up tip videos. On September 18, she won the Streamy Award for "Best Beauty Series". It was announced on October 7 that Lazzarato would star in Adam Lambert's video for his song "Another Lonely Night".

On 9 August 2016, Lazzarato was detained in the United Arab Emirates and had her passport taken by airport officials and immigration officers at the Dubai International Airport. She was denied entry in to Dubai for being a transgender woman, as the government does not recognize her gender as legitimate even though, according to Lazzarato, the gender on her passport states female and not male. Dubai officials, however, said that the gender on her passport stated male. The "imitation of women by men" is illegal in the UAE, and violators can face up to a year in jail. Lazzarato was released after spending over five hours being detained.

The "#JusticeForGigi" hashtag surfaced on Twitter, with fans and supporters calling for Lazzarato's release and a reform in anti-LGBTQ laws. It was not the first time a transgender person was detained in Dubai. In 2014, two Brazilian transgender women were also detained and had their passports taken. Lazzarato, before leaving Dubai for Sweden, responded to the incident by calling for equality and legal protections for LGBTQ people.

2017: This is Everything

In January 2017, the documentary This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, starring Lazzarato, directed by Barbara Kopple premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. On June 11, Gorgeous watched the documentary with Katy Perry on Perry's four-day livestream event, Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide.

In June 2017, Lazzarato was named to the Time Magazine list of the 25 most influential people on the Internet.

Personal life

Lazzarato, who had previously identified herself as bisexual, came out as lesbian in a YouTube video on September 14, 2016. Lazzarato is a practicing Roman Catholic and describes herself as religious. Lazzarato is dating Natalia Williams, an heiress and member of the Getty family.

Transition

Lazzarato announced that she was a transgender woman in December 2013. Since then she has undergone electrolysis, tracheal shave, hormone replacement therapy, facial feminization surgery, rhinoplasty, and breast augmentation. She legally had her name changed to Gigi Loren Lazzarato on March 8, 2014.

In a September 2015 issue of People Magazine, Lazzarato credited transgender model and performing artist, Amanda Lepore and her mother's death for sparking her transition.