For eight seasons of TLC‘s I Am Jazz, reality tv star Jazz Jennings has shared her life with viewers and fans. But on transgender visibility day, Jennings needed to clear up some misconceptions some fans have about her journey.
Jennings was one of the youngest individuals to publicly transition. At a young age, Jennings always felt as though she was a girl trapped in the body of a boy. And her family has always given her all the love and support, especially in the face of hate.
Jazz Jennings is transgender and proud
Jennings shared a video of her speaking outside Capitol Hill. She also captioned the video with the statement that she is transgender and proud. But she wanted to use the opportunity to address “false narratives” about who she is and her family.
“Since the moment I could express myself, I knew I was a girl,” she wrote. “My identity as a woman was never placed upon me, and my parents didn’t force me to transition. All my parents did was support me, not encourage me. Through their unconditional love, they helped me find medical advice from professionals who supported me in my transition every step of the way.”
She does not regret her transgender transition
In her Instagram post, she shared that she began male puberty and hormone blockers at age 11. She has no regrets and added that doing this saved her life.
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“Those blockers saved my life and continue to save the lives of so many youths out there,” she shared. “If I were forced to go through male puberty, it would’ve been devastating for me. It could’ve cost me my life, and the same will be true for many transgender youth who are denied gender-affirming care. Even more so, taking estrogen through hormone replacement allowed my body to develop how I wanted. I blossomed into a young woman, eventually got the bottom surgery, and am living as a proud woman today.”
In an essay Jennings wrote for Time, she described how it felt to exist in the body of a boy. “Sometimes it helps people understand the feeling better if I put it like this: Imagine a young boy who is super into trucks and cars and playing in the mud,” she wrote.
“Then imagine that every time his parents take him out in public, they parade him around in a pink frilly dress with a parasol,” Jennings described. “The humiliation he’d feel is exactly the same humiliation I felt having to wear plain shorts and a T-shirt. I couldn’t understand why my parents, who were as loving and caring as anyone could hope for, would force me to go through that kind of torture.”
Jazz shared why she struggles with her mental health
Jennings has also been very open about mental health. Despite being accepted to Harvard University, she was struggling. “I was actually struggling severely with mental health issues,” she shared in the I Am Jazz Season 7 trailer. “I started binge eating, and I gained weight, and more weight, and more weight, and now, almost 100 pounds heavier, here I am today.”
She explained why she struggles with her mental health. “It was not because I transitioned, and it’s, unfortunately, something many LGBTQ+ people face,” she shared in her Instagram post. “Why? A lot of it has to do with the hate and lack of acceptance we receive in society. So to all of you speaking about our mental health for views and calling our families abusers for supporting our transition, you are the only abusers.”
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