Amy Schneider, the reigning "Jeopardy!" champion and a trans woman, shared an important message about what representation means to her and how tough the holiday season can be for the trans community.
Schneider, a 10-day winner who has amassed $380,200 in prize money thus far, shared a Twitter thread on Friday about why she chose to wear a trans flag pin on the quiz show's Thanksgiving episode.
"I didn't want to make too much about being trans, at least in the context of the show. I am a trans woman, and I'm proud of that fact, but I'm a lot of other things, too!" Schneider wrote.
"The fact is," she continued, "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."
Schneider said her reason for featuring the pin on that particular episode was because of how family-centric Thanksgiving is, acknowledging how the day -- and overall holiday season -- "can be hard for anybody who has been ostracized or otherwise cut off from their family."
This group, she continued, is made up of "a disproportionately high number of trans people, especially trans youth and trans people of color."
Schneider said it was her goal to "show my membership in, and support of, a community that might be having a hard time right now."
In closing, Schneider encouraged donating to organizations that help LGBTQ people in need, calling out the Trans Lifeline and the Transgender Law Center in particular -- both of which she said are close to her heart.
Thank you for your thoughtful message, Amy. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Xj02Jd8Nkm
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 26, 2021
