Famous for her performance on Glee, JJ Totah comes out as transsexual: “I always knew I was a woman”

Actress J. J. Totah, who became famous for her performance in the hit musical series Glee, ends up coming out as a transgender woman in an emotional statement. In her report, she states that she always felt like a woman, despite being known as a gay man. “When I was very young, growing up in a small town in Northern California, people just assumed I was gay,” he explained, adding that he always perceived himself as different from other kids his age. See the full open letter released by Totah about the case. “Acting has always been my passion. I'm grateful for the roles I've been able to play on shows like Champions, and I know I'm lucky to be able to do what I love. But I also feel like I let myself be put into a box: “JJ Totah, gay boy.” When I was very young, growing up in a small town in Northern California, people just assumed I was gay. On the playground, I was the kind of person who wanted to sing with the girls, not play football with the boys. So I found myself playing this role as soon as I entered the entertainment industry and people kept assuming my identity. Numerous reporters asked me in interviews what it was like to be a young gay man. I myself was introduced like this before receiving an award from an LGBTQ+ rights organization. I understand that they really didn't know. I almost felt like I owed it to everyone to be that gay boy. But that's never how I thought about myself. (.) My pronouns are she and her. I identify as feminine, specifically as a transgender woman. And my name is Josie Totah. This is not something that just happened. This is not a choice I made. When I was five years old, long before I understood the meaning of the word gender, I always told my mother that I wanted to be a girl. When I could speak in full sentences, and I said things like “give me a dress!”, I always knew somehow that I was a woman. But it crystallized about three years ago, when I was 14 and watching the Life of Jazz series with my mom. The series was about 14-year-old Jazz Jennings, a transgender teenager who was undergoing medical transition. When I learned more about hormone replacement therapy, I knew this was what I had to do. I looked at her halfway through the series and said, 'This is me. I'm transsexual and I need to go through this.' My mom, who is incredibly supportive and kind, said, 'OK, let's do this.' Three days later, I was meeting with my pediatrician, who referred me to a specialist, who gave me a hormone blocker. From that point on, I accelerated things. (.) There are still things that scare me. Identity documents can be difficult for transgender people to change. I'm afraid of that moment when someone looks at the ID, looks at the photo, looks at the gender marker – looks at you. I never want to feel like I'm not allowed somewhere because of who I am. I'm scared that being transgender limits me in this way. And I'm afraid of being judged, rejected, of feeling uncomfortable, of people looking at me differently. But when my friends and family call me Josie, I feel like I'm being seen. It's something everyone wants, to feel understood. And as a semi-religious person who attended Catholic school, I came to believe that God made me transgender. I don't feel like I was put in the wrong body. I don't feel like there was a mistake made. I believe I am transgender to help people understand differences. It allows me to gain perspective, to be more accepting of others, because I know what it's like to know that you're not like everyone else. When I was on Glee, I watched Lea Michele. She was fabulous. And it was fun to see her and the other girls wearing dresses and doing lavish musical numbers. But it was also difficult, because I wanted it to be me. It's a feeling I've experienced on almost every project I've worked on. This week I will start going to college. I'm also going to continue my acting career, and I'm really excited to do both while being myself. I intend to play roles that I haven't had the opportunity to play. And I can only imagine how much more fun it will be to play someone who shares my identity, rather than having to contort myself to play a boy. I'm prepared for these roles, whether it's a transgender woman or a cisgender woman.