The second sibling of the Wachowski directing pair — best known for The Matrix trilogy — has come out as transgender. Lilly Wachowski (48), formerly Andy, the younger sibling to Lana (50), has gone public after repeated threats of an involuntary outing by a British media outlet. Lana transitioned a few years ago and became the first major Hollywood director to do so. She made her initial public appearance in July 2012 and later revealed how she once contemplated suicide during her teens while feeling confused about gender identity.
Lilly wrote a statement for the Windy City News and explains the timing of her announcement, which coincides with speculation that she’s confronting head on: “So yeah. I’m transgender. And yeah, I’ve transitioned.” What follows is a forthright essay explaining how The Daily Mail visited her home with actual threats to print details that were only “salacious” in value:
“SEX CHANGE SHOCKER — WACHOWSKI BROTHERS NOW SISTERS!!!”
There’s the headline I’ve been waiting for this past year. Up until now with dread and/or eye rolling exasperation. The “news” has almost come out a couple of times. Each was preceded by an ominous email from my agent — reporters have been asking for statements regarding the “Andy Wachowski gender transition” story they were about to publish. In response to this threatened public outing against my will, I had a prepared a statement that was one part p*ss, one part vinegar and 12 parts gasoline.
It had a lot of politically relevant insights regarding the dangers of outing trans people, and the statistical horrors of transgender suicide and murder rates. Not to mention a slightly sarcastic wrap-up that “revealed” my father had injected praying mantis blood into his paternal ball-sac before conceiving each of his children to produce a brood of super women, hellbent on female domination. Okay, mega sarcastic.
After a number of escalating encounters with Mail journalists, the threatened article — which Lilly said could “possibly have a potentially fatal effect” — fortunately never materialized, but Lilly wished to come out on her own terms. One wonders what these outlets were hoping to accomplish beyond a momentary scoop. The rest of the essay is well worth reading and impossible to summarize in a few paragraphs. Read Lilly’s essay here.
(Via Windy City Media Group)
