Our Lady J

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    Our Lady J
    Our Lady J at TDoV SF - 2.jpg
    Our Lady J performing at the 2016 Trans Day of Visibility celebration in San Francisco.
    Date of birth 1978
    Place of birth Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, USA
    Nationality American
    Pronouns she/her[1]
    Gender identity GNC genderfluid trans woman[1]
    Occupation pianist, TV writer, singer-songwriter
    Known for Transparent and Pose

    Our Lady J is a classical pianist, television writer, and singer-songwriter. She is a writer and producer for the television series Transparent and Pose.[2][3]

    Our Lady J was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in 1978, growing up in an Amish community.[1] She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts from 1994 to 1996, majoring in piano during her junior and senior years of high school.[4] In 2000, she moved to New York City, where she freelanced as an accompanist.[5] In 2004, J became the musical director and accompanist for the Broadway performer Natalie Joy Johnson and came out as transgender.[6] She grew to popularity in 2013 when releasing her critically acclaimed first studio album, Picture of a Man.[7] Our Lady J has played piano at Carnegie Hall, American Ballet Theatre, and for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.[1]

    In a 2014 piece in the New York Times, Our Lady J said "I'm comfortable being a bit of both genders. Legally, I'm 100 percent woman — I changed the 'M' to 'F' on all my papers — but now I want to change it to a question mark or an 'X'."[5] In a November 2016 video for Tinder, she said "My preferred gender is agender, no gender."[8] However in a September 2017 interview on the podcast "LGBTQ&A", she said that was no longer accurate and she was now "gender nonconforming and gender fluid", but also a trans woman.[1] On International Women's Day in March 2020, she tweeted about being woman-aligned and nonbinary:

    « Happy International Women's Day. I never take my womanhood for granted, having spent most of my life fighting to be respected and seen as a woman. But truth be told, it's not that simple for me. I am and always have been non-binary, although identifying with this term still feels foreign, given the newness of the language in comparison to the antiquity of my spirit. However, "woman" is still a protective and necessary sheath I feel I must wear for my safety in a society that feels anything other than man or woman is a danger, therefore a target of violence. This fight, I believe, is one of the many shared experiences that binds me to the female tribe. I will continue to align with the term "woman," until the day comes when splintering away from it no longer leaves me feeling prey to the verbal and physical violence I've experienced while inhabiting my space within the sacred femme.[9] »

    Links[edit | edit source]

    References[edit | edit source]

    1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Our Lady J on Gender, Discrimination, & Hollywood Starting to "Get It Right"". INTO. 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
    2. Ennis, Dawn (December 4, 2014). "Transparent Creator on Show's First Trans Writer". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
    3. Andreeva, Nellie (2017-10-25). "FX's 'Pose': Ryan Murphy Sets Largest Transgender Cast Ever For Scripted Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
    4. "Transparent writer on plotting her own journey". Interlochen Center for the Arts. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
    5. 5.0 5.1 Musto, Michael (10 December 2014). "Our Lady J Evolves, One Dolly Parton Cover at a Time". New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
    6. "Our Lady J, Transparent's first trans writer, discusses becoming part of the family". Los Angeles Times. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
    7. "Our Lady J's 'Picture of a Man' Album Indiegogo Campaign Features Celebrity Friends". Huff Post. May 24, 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
    8. #AllTypesAllSwipes | Introducing More Genders | Product Release | Tinder, Nov 15, 2016
    9. "Twitter thread by @ourladyj". March 8, 2020. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020.
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