As awards season winds down, the plaudits continued to roll out in L.A. with the 33rd annual GLAAD Media Awards.
If you’re a “Jeopardy!” fan, it’s been Amy Schneider's season since the previous fall when she began her long, historic winning streak on the beloved game show. Since her streak ended in late January, she’s been using her fame to bring some attention to transgender rights.
Last week she visited the White House on the Transgender Day of Visibility. Then at the GLAAD awards she talked more generally about her unexpected journey from being a software engineer in Oakland, CA to game show champ to current celebrity activist.
Related
As Today recounted, Schneider competed on 41 episodes of “Jeopardy!”, making her the second longest winner in history behind new host Ken Jennings. In the end, she earned $1,382,800 and scooped up a GLAAD Special Recognition Award for her unprecedented achievements on “Jeopardy!”
“I knew going into it that ‘Jeopardy!’ has an older fan base,” said Schneider, “people who wouldn’t have seen a trans person as much. It was certainly something I worried about a bit, but I decided, I’ll just be myself and whatever happens, happens.”
And what happened was that “Jeopardy!” fans loved Schneider’s humble yet confident personality, along with her gentle humor, too.
“It was such a great opportunity to be the first trans person in that particular stage, in that particular forum, to represent the trans community in that kind of way,” she said. “I’m so excited for all the people to come after me to make it normal, but it was really an honor to be the first.”
Related
Schneider’s status as the first openly transgender contestant on the show meant her message was reaching a wider audience, many of who are still acclimating to the changing mores around transgender visibility.
Despite a bevy of stars and honorees hovering around the GLAAD awards -- Kacey Musgraves, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and many more from the film and streaming worlds -- an inordinate amount of attention went towards Schneider. She even hosted a hilarious drag queen version of "Jeopardy!"
“For Amy being on 'Jeopardy!’ it elevates trans visibility in such a significant way and in such an unexpected place,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of GLAAD. “One of the things is that now we’re coming to see LGBTQ people in our stories on television shows and on streaming – but on a game show? And one that is held to such a gold standard? To have someone like Amy representing the community openly and proudly has been transformative.”
"You also have to think about who 'Jeopardy!' reaches…” Ellis added, “this demographic that we can’t necessarily always get to. A lot of times it’s grandparents with grandkids. I know my mother watches it with her grandchildren. So this is touching demographics and generations together."
For Schneider, all this attention is still settling in.
“It’s hard to process, for sure,” she said. "To me, it’s such a good feeling that I’ve been able to do something to help all of us out but also repay all the generations before me that had much more difficult circumstances…. It’s a really good sign for this country. Once it clicks for people, that trans people, that LGBTQ people, are just people and don’t deserve to be treated any differently than anybody else, then they don’t go back on that. Once someone learns that, it’s mostly a one-way street from there."
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign up and follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram