Assigned female at birth, Ashley came out as transgender in November 2013. He started his medical transition in December 2014, telling GQ, "I was either gonna be unhappy forever or take these steps."
He further explained that the medical transition included taking testosterone and undergoing a double mastectomy in 2015. "It's a lifelong process," said Ashley. "It never ends."
Since coming out, Ashley has become an advocate for the trans community and has spoken out on numerous occasions about his experience as a trans model. It's my responsibility to talk about people who maybe don't have the voice that I do yet," he explained to Dazed. "It's my responsibility to talk about people who maybe don't have the voice that I do yet, or who are gender non-conforming, or those people that are visibly trans and aren't respected as the gender that they identify as."
