From mermaid tails to Harvard grad, Jazz Jennings keeps making waves
The Harvard grad and longtime LGBTQ+ advocate isn't backing down from her truth, no matter what policies try to erase it.
Mark
Jazz Jennings has been advocating for herself since she was able to speak.
As soon as she could, Jennings told her family she was a girl. Then came the headline-making 2007 Barbara Walters interview at the age of six. Five years later, Jennings reconnected with Walters to share more of her story. It was just the beginning of a lifetime of activism.
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In these tumultuous times, it would be understandable for the lifelong trans activist to take a break from the media and focus on her studies at Harvard, but she’s still standing strong. After Tr*mp signed an inauguration day executive order recognizing only “two genders,” Jennings posted a defiant video holding true to herself.
“Does this look abusive?” she asked, gesturing to her smiling family. With critics in and outside the White House trying to rewrite her trans story, she expressed a message of pride and self-determination.
“No matter what policies or opinions say, I know who I am,” she wrote in the caption. “I know times are tough right now, but we must stick together and stay true to our authentic selves.”
Jazz Jennings can’t seem to sit still. The subject of an Oprah Winfrey Network documentary at age 10, the co-author of the children’s book I Am Jazz at 13, and the author of her memoir at 15, she spent her teenage years advocating for herself and others. She also documented her life and transition on YouTube alongside being the subject of a TLC reality series, I Am Jazz.
When she was eight years old, Jennings, her family, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights fought to let her participate in women’s soccer at her school. After a two-year struggle, she was allowed on the team. Since then, Jennings has continued to advocate for trans inclusion in sports, even as federal and state governments seek to upend years of progress.
When I was 8 years old, I was banned from my playing girls soccer for over two years. The ban made me feel excluded, had no merit and negatively affected me and my family.
Go to the link below to take action and combat these bills before they passhttps://t.co/11SiaPlRwZ pic.twitter.com/Lz1mxpTYA3— Jazz Jennings (@JazzJennings__) March 29, 2021
The trailblazing trans advocate has earned numerous accolades, including awards for her reality TV show and her advocacy work. She was also made a youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign at 14 and has been featured on numerous year-end lists for her advocacy. It should be no wonder that she keeps making headlines today, unwilling as ever to back down to bigotry.
Jennings has also made her mark in a lesser-known area: homemade mermaid tails. After her parents took her to “mermaid amusement park” Weeki Wachee Springs at 8, Jennings made her first mermaid tail out of fabric. At 12, she discovered the broader mermaiding community. She crafted her first silicone mermaid tail, which she then manufactured and sold to raise money for trans children through her Purple Rainbow Tails project.
Making and wearing the tails “represented my girlhood,” Jennings said in an Instagram video. “Because mermaids have always been so special to the trans community, to be able to create a mermaid tail and represent me, that was huge for me.” Before getting bottom surgery at 17, Jennings said the mermaid tail affirmed her gender by simply replacing her bottom half with a beautiful fin.
In 2021, one of Jennings’ silicone tails was featured in a section of the Smithsonian’s “Girlhood (It’s Complicated)” exhibit, but that was far from the capstone of her mermaiding career. Jennings continues to craft newer and more innovative mermaid tails today, bringing such creativity and dedication to her hobby that it’s no wonder she just graduated from Harvard.
With so many achievements under her belt, it would be understandable for Jennings to rest on her laurels for a while. But the activist, author, actor, and craftswoman shows no signs of tiring.
Who knows what’s next for her—a music career, a poetry book, a Hollywood breakthrough role… the possibilities are endless.
But whatever comes next, Jazz Jennings is sure to hold her head high and continue advocating for herself and the rest of the trans community.
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