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 works to increase public understanding and acceptance of trans people like herself. Jennings made her television debut at age six in 2007 when Barbara Walters interviewed her for a 20/20 special on trans children. That year, she and her family founded the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation to support other trans kids. In 2013 they began raising funds for the foundation through Purple Rainbow Tails, selling silicon mermaid tails. Jennings was featured in a 2011 documentary, I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition, the 2015 reality series I Am Jazz, and her own videos on YouTube. She 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 to allow her to compete on girls’ teams. Time hailed her as one of the 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014, LogoTV presented her with the 2014 Youth Trailblazer Award, and she was the youngest person ever honored on Out's "Out 100" and the Advocate’s 40 Under 40 list. She was named in the 2014 Trans 100 list and declared a Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassador. In 2015 she became a spokesmodel for Clean & Clear's "See The Real Me" digital campaign, sharing the difficulties of growing up as a trans person. She has modeled for NOH8 Campaign and voiced TV characters, including teenage transgender character Zadie in the animated series Danger & Eggs, who sings about acceptance and teaches the characters about chosen family. In 2017, the Tonner Doll Company created the first doll marketed as transgender, modeled after Jennings, . In 2019 Jennings starred in the short film Denim, which focuses on a trans teen’s experience after a photo of her in the women’s bathroom is released.  

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Jazz Jennings." (Viewed on April 24, 2024) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jennings-jazz>.