As a child, Jenna Daugherty would dress up in her sister’s and mother’s clothes around the house. But it wasn’t until she was 16, then a male student at Fremont Christian High School, that the private dress up became very public.
It was “twin day” at the high school and a classmate suggested Daugherty, the self-proclaimed class clown at the time, dress in a matching outfit of a female classmate. So, the boy donned a jean skirt, white shirt, pink cardigan sweater and a blonde wig and picked the name Jenna.
“At that point in time, it was the most amazing I ever felt,’’ she said during an interview with this news organization. “And every year, I would come back as Jenna. I had such a good reaction that I told myself if I was ever going to do this for real, Jenna was going to be my name. “
Life went on and Daugherty stayed living as a male, but in 2014, Dougherty recalled, “I told myself that at some point, Jenna is coming out for real.”
That day came in July of 2015 when Daugherty dropped her birth name and began living full-time as a trans woman, known as Jenna.
It was a powerful shift from childhood, when “I would sit in my bed at night and say, ‘please change me into a girl,’ I just wanted to be a girl.”
Since then, she has become a public advocate for the trans community. And this June, Pride Month, Assemblymember Alex Lee, who represents northern San Jose, Milpitas, Sunol and Newark, honored Daugherty as an LGBTQ community leader for his district.
Lee was elected in 2020, becoming the youngest Asian American legislator ever elected and the first openly bisexual state legislator in California history.
“Everyone should be able to live authentically and with pride. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality today despite the progress we’ve made, and trans individuals still face discrimination, violence and prejudice,’’ Lee said in a statement. “Jenna’s work to uplift the voices of the trans community is crucial to addressing the stigma against LGBTQ+ individuals. Her story as an out and proud trans community member is truly inspiring.”
Daugherty gave a speech at a recent weekend celebration sponsored by Lee, saying she has looked to lessons of the past to make certain the future is better for everyone, including trans people.
“Throughout history we are called to speak out and fight for the greater good against the forces of evil, and I believe this to be one of these times,’’ she told the crowd. “I was homeschooled in a fundamentalist Christian household and while I ultimately grew apart from my upbringing, I will always thank my parents for teaching me how to stand strong in my principles and morals, even if I’m standing alone.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity or expression is different from their sex assigned at birth. Roughly 2.6 million Americans identify as transgender, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Household …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
