Oakland’s Amy Schneider, famous for her recent 40-game winning streak on the TV trivia game show “Jeopardy!,” visited the White House Thursday on International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Schneider, who identifies as transgender, met with Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and visited the Secretary of War room and the press Briefing Room at the White House where she spoke to reporters.
“I’m just really, really honored to be here and really grateful that this is being celebrated and the trans people are being celebrated in a place like this,” she said in the Briefing Room.
A reporter asked her what she hopes to accomplish on her trip to the White House, and she said, “Just again being a trans person out there that isn’t monstrous and isn’t threatening and is just a normal person like we all are.
“So, the more that people like me can be seen the harder it is to sustain the myths that are, that are kind of driving a lot of this hate and fear,” Schneider said.
“(T)he more that people like me can be seen the harder it is to sustain the myths that are, that are kind of driving a lot of this hate and fear.”
Amy Schneider
President Joe Biden’s administration recognized Thursday as International Transgender Day of Visibility and issued a fact sheet to advance equality and visibility for transgender Americans.
White House officials said every citizen should be free to be themselves, yet many transgender Americans face discrimination, violence and barriers.
White House officials condemned anti-transgender legislation passed by some states. Biden has previously said the bills are government overreach.
Schneider, who holds the record for the second-longest “Jeopardy!” winning streak behind Ken Jennings, said she thinks that the backlash against trans people in some U.S. states is temporary.
“I think that the country overall is on our side and getting more so every day and I think it’s not going to be too long before these sorts of bills are seen as a thing of the past and no longer what we want to be as a country,” Schneider said.