After allegedly enduring threats from major media outlets, the other half of the Matrix directing duo known as the Wachowskis has come out as a transgender woman. Lilly Wachowski, formerly known as Andy Wachowski, discussed her decision to speak her truth with an empowering message of encouragement for others who may be experiencing the same bullying tactic.
"Being transgender is not easy," Wachowski said in a statement to the Windy City Times. "We live in a majority-enforced gender binary world. This means when you're transgender you have to face the hard reality of living the rest of your life in a world that is openly hostile to you." Adding that she already had the support of friends and family, Wachowski reveals she felt pressured to make an announcement after several publications started threatening to publish "salacious" stories regarding her transition.
"After he had given me his card, and I closed the door it began to dawn on me where I had heard of the Daily Mail," Wachowski remembers, referencing an encounter with one of the offending reporters. "It was the 'news' organization that had played a huge part in the national public outing of Lucy Meadows, an elementary school teacher and trans woman in the U.K." Sadly, Meadows later took her own life following the publication's inhumane treatment of her gender identity.
Lilly Wachowski's sister, Lana Wachowski, previously came out as transgender in 2012 with an unforgettable speech at a Human Rights Campaign fundraising event in San Francisco. "I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I couldn’t find anyone like me in the world,” Lana said in her speech, as quoted by the Hollywood Reporter. "It felt like my dreams were foreclosed simply because my gender was less typical than others. If I can be that person for someone else, then the sacrifice of my private civic life may have value."
For more information on the need for sensitivity and general respect regarding transgender issues, visit GLAAD's media reference guide.
