The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. Learn more

Jazz Jennings

b. October 6, 2000

by JWA Staff
Our work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing. We are providing this brief biography for Jazz Jennings until we are able to commission a full entry.

Jazz Jennings

Through her YouTube channel and reality TV show, Jazz Jennings is working to increase public understanding and acceptance of transgender teens like herself. Jennings made her television debut at age six in 2007 when Barbara Walters interviewed her for a 20/20 special on transgender children. That year, she and her family founded the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation to support other trans kids, and in 2013 they began raising funds for the foundation through Purple Rainbow Tails, selling silicon mermaid tails. Jennings has been featured in a 2011 documentary, I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition, and the 2015 reality series I Am Jazz, as well as through her own videos on YouTube, where she talks about navigating high school as a trans girl. She also co-wrote a children’s book, I Am Jazz, in 2013, and wrote a memoir, Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen, in 2016. She fought successfully to change the United States Soccer Federation’s policies and allow her to compete on girls’ teams. Time hailed her as one of the 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014, and she is the youngest person ever honored on the Advocate’s 40 Under 40 list.

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Jazz Jennings." (Viewed on June 7, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jennings-jazz>.

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