'Jeopardy!' Champ Amy Schneider Visits White House

john.eggerton@futurenet.com (John Eggerton) — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 20:20:42 +0000

Amy Schneider, the first woman to win more than $1 million on Jeopardy!, made an appearance at the White House briefing room to highlight the Biden administration's recognition of the International Transgender Day of Visibility Thursday (March 31).

According to a White House pool reporter, Schneider told the journalists assembled there that recent legislation prohibiting transgender children -- Schneider is transgender -- from participating in school spots and preventing teachers from discussing LGBT issues is "really scary."

Schneider also met with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and planned to meet with some transgender youth as well.

In a proclamation on the Day of Visibility, President Biden said he and his administration sees transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people for what they are, "deserving of dignity, respect, and support."

"Like never before, they are sharing their stories in books and magazines; breaking glass ceilings of representation on television and movie screens; enlisting -- once again -- to serve proudly and openly in our military; getting elected and making policy at every level of government; and running businesses, curing diseases, and serving our communities in countless other ways."

On the TV front, on Thursday, Caitlyn Jenner, one of the highest profile transgender people in the country, was signed by Fox News as a commentator and analyst across various platforms.

President Biden also spoke about local government efforts targeted to the LGBTQ community. "Efforts to criminalize supportive medical care for transgender kids, to ban transgender children from playing sports, and to outlaw discussing LGBTQI+ people in schools undermine their humanity and corrode our Nation's values," he said. ■

LGBT Tech Partnership Praises 'Transparent' Emmy Wins

MCN Staff — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 14:15:00 +0000

Click here for more Emmys coverage.

LGBT Technology Partnership Executive Director Chris Wood says series like Emmy-winning Transparent "continue to raise awareness for our community."

Jill Soloway, who won the Emmy Sunday (Sept. 20) for best directing in a comedy series for the Amazon Original offering, used part of her acceptance speech to talk about how far the transgender community has to go. "We don't have a trans tipping point yet, we have a trans problem," she said, urging the audience to go to transequality.org and support the Trans Equality bill.

Jeffrey Tambor, who won an Emmy for his lead portrayal in Transparent, in his speech thanked the transgender community for its patience and for "letting us be part of the change."

Wood said it was past time for the mass media to focus on the community, and give creative artists their due.

"Television, movies and the Internet have been and continue to be a medium to educate society about the LGBTQ community but we are long overdue for shows like Transparent focused specifically on our transgender community," he said in response to the Emmy wins for Soloway and Tambor. "We also need to celebrate and highlight those transgender individuals who have significantly contributed like Trans actress Alexandra Billings for her supporting work on Transparent, Lana Wachowski, writer and director of [Netflix sci-fi series] Sense8, or actress Jamie Clayton, also in Sense8."

We hope that Hollywood and the industry will continue to embrace telling the all too important stories that have been written and acted, by and for our transgender community," he told Multichannel News.

The partnership is holding its annual Fall Policy Forum on Capitol Hill tomorrow (Sept. 22), focusing on the impact of technology, including an open Internet, to benefit the LGBTQ community.

Latest from Next TV in Transgender-issues

'Jeopardy!' Champ Amy Schneider Visits White House

LGBT Tech Partnership Praises 'Transparent' Emmy Wins