Second Wachowski filmmaking sibling “forced” to come out as trans

Lilly Wachowski, sister of transgender director and producer Lana Wachowski, best known for their The Matrix films, has also come out as transgender.

In a piece for the Windy City Times, Lilly wrote, “I’m transgender… And yeah, I’ve transitioned.”

The filmmaker revealed that she decided to open up about her identity after being repeatedly harassed by reporters who tried to out her over the past year.

She said she dreaded seeing a salacious headline like, “Sex change shocker – Wachowski brothers now sisters”. Lilly’s older sister, Lana, first came out to the public about her journey as a transgender woman in 2012.

The last straw was when a Daily Mail reporter showed up outside Lilly’s house trying to convince her to tell him her story or face being outed by the tabloids.

“You know, when you’re living as an out transgender person it’s … kind of difficult to hide. I just wanted—needed some time to get my head right, to feel comfortable. But apparently I don’t get to decide this,” said Lilly.

“I am one of the lucky ones. Having the support of my family and the means to afford doctors and therapists has given me the chance to actually survive this process. Transgender people without support, means and privilege do not have this luxury. And many do not survive.

“In 2015, the transgender murder rate hit an all-time high in this country. A horrifying disproportionate number of the victims were trans women of colour. These are only the recorded homicides so, since trans people do not all fit in the tidy gender binary statistics of murder rates, it means the actual numbers are higher.”

Lilly went on to say: “And though we have come a long way since Silence of the Lambs, we continue to be demonised and vilified in the media where attack ads portray us as potential predators to keep us from even using the goddamn bathroom.

“The so-called bathroom bills that are popping up all over this country do not keep children safe, they force trans people into using bathrooms where they can be beaten and or murdered. We are not predators, we are prey.”

American LGBT media lobby group GLAAD said it was “thrilled” that Lilly “is able to be her true and authentic self today.”

Nick Adams, GLAAD’s Director of Programs for Transgender Media, commented, however, that “she should not have been forced to disclose her transgender identity before she was ready to do so.”

Adams added: “Journalists must learn that it is unacceptable to out a transgender person, in the same way it is unacceptable to out a person who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual.”

The sisters, known as The Wachowskis, have made a number of groundbreaking films, including Bound, The Matrix franchise, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending and the sci-fi series Sense8.