“Jeopardy!” contestant Amy Schneider has a few choices words for the transphobic comments that have been directed at her on social media.
Schneider, who is the first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions on the show, addressed the commentary sent to her through messages over the course of December in a tweet on the last day of the year.
“I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man,” she wrote. “Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind.”
Fans and followers of the contestant flooded the replies of her post with love and support, as well as denouncing anyone sending hateful words to her.
“As a former contestant (@KenJennings 26th game) and the parent of a young trans woman (who did quiz bowl in HS & college), it’s been great to watch you,” one user and former "Jeopardy!" contestant tweeted to Schneider. “Congratulations on your streak and on having the grace to take the high road with these trolls and troglodytes!”
Another user shared both their love and their father’s love for Schneider in another comment, writing, “My 74 yo dad loves your blog. He is so angry on your behalf. ‘The Venn diagram of people who hate and misgender Amy and those who truly love Jeopardy are two separate circles.’ Amy, we are in your corner.”
“I don’t watch Jeopardy often, but when I was home for the holidays you were on, and my mom and I have been following closely since!” another Twitter user tweeted. “YOU ARE THE ROLE MODEL WE NEED! So cool to watch a beautiful minded, intelligent, and unapologetically authentic human make waves and history!”
Many users also praised Schneider’s role as a contestant for bringing the needed representation to television and how it has helped their own family’s perception shift.
“You have actually helped shift my parents’ perception of womanhood and I couldn’t thank you more,” one person wrote. “You are such a brilliant queen and I could not enjoy your run on Jeopardy more. Thank you for being you and showing up and representing. We are rooting for your success & power!”
Another user wrote, "Somehow, after 2-3 years of conversation, you being on Jeopardy every night has taught my dad to be accepting of trans people."
"You’re the first person he’s used correct pronouns with, a 83 year old man, saying 'this isn’t too hard,'" the tweet continued. "Thanks for your message of love."
Schneider has remained in headlines in recent weeks due to her long-standing run on the show. By Dec. 1, 2021, the engineering manager from Oakland had won her 10th consecutive game with a total of $380,200. On December 28, she made history by winning the 21st time in a row and broke the record for most wins by a woman which was set by Julia Collins in 2014. To date, she has had 23 straight victories, earning $855,600.
Though she is “proud” to be a trans woman, Schneider expressed in a lengthy Twitter thread at the end of November that she didn’t want to make her “Jeopardy!” appearance “too much about being trans.”
“The fact is, I don’t actually think about being trans all that often, and so when appearing on national television, I wanted to represent that part of my identity accurately: as important, but also relatively minor,” she said, referring to the trans Pride flag pin she wrote on the Thanksgiving episode. “But I also didn’t want it to seem as if it was some kind of shameful secret. While it’s gratifying to know that people didn’t necessarily know I was trans until they read about it, I do want people to know that aspect of me. I think being trans is really cool!”