Jake Zyrus
Born Charice Pempengco, Jake Zyrus is a singer and TV personality hailing from the Philippines who rose to fame on the Ellen Show. He has had many international TV appearances and even performed with artists like David Foster and Andrea Bocelli. After establishing a successful singing career, Zyrus joined the cast of “Glee.” in 2010 as Sunshine Corazon.
Zyrus’s transition started relatively recently. In an interview with Papermag, he said, “I am always thankful for the life of Charice that I experienced and the music that I shared, but that obviously belongs to her, it’s not for me. I’m letting her go and be free.”
Alexandra Billings
Alexandra Billings played the beloved Davina (Maura's bestie and mentor) on the hit show "Transparent." The actress is the second openly transgender woman to have played a trans role on TV. Before that, she appeared in the TV movie "Romy and Michele: In the Beginning," "ER," Eli Stone, "How to Get Away with Murder," and "Grey’s Anatomy."
But there is plenty of things that Billings has achieved outside of the world of acting. For example, she is a major advocate for LGBTQ rights and HIV awareness. In 2016 she received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award, an award annually given to esteemed members of the LGBTQ community.
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen is considered to be the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery in history. The Bronx native left to pursue a degree as soon as her military service was done in the year 1945. It was during this time that she learned about transitioning genders.
The student then left for Denmark, the only country at the time to be performing surgeries of this sort. There she also began hormone treatment. Her return to New York was met with mad fascination, throwing her in the spotlight, a position Jorgensen wasn't always happy with, but with her charisma and wit, the trans-icon charmed America and gave a face to the movement.
Our Lady J
One of the major voices behind shows such as "Transparent" and "Pose," Our Lady J is a key person in bringing these shows to life. She has also had some significant writing credits on a variety of episodes on some of the latest seasons of both "American Horror Story" and "American Horror Stories."
Aside from television writing and production, she is also a classically trained pianist and singer. In fact, she moved to the big city in order to be a musical director. When her album "Picture of a Man" earned attention, since then, our Lady J has been flying.
Jamie Clayton
This incredible actress, Jamie Clayton, garnered attention for her role as Nomi Marks in the Netflix original series "Sense8" (created by the Wachowski sisters). She then returned to our screens in the iconic character of Sasha Booker in"Designated Survivor's" third season.
You would be surprised to learn that Clayton wasn't even an actress prior to all this success, but a make-up artist and host of VH1’s show "TRANSform Me." The actress continues to land juicy roles in shows and even narrated for an audiobook. In 2022, she had the huge honor of playing Pinhead in the long-awaited remake of the classic horror movie "Hellraiser."