Amy Schneider, a transgender woman (and engineering manager) out of Oakland, California, recently took Jeopardy! by storm and ousted a five-time champ during Trans Awareness Week and has kept her winning streak going. As of this date, Amy’s scooped up over $250,000 in winnings over eight games, and that streak doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
With each successive win under Amy’s belt, the calm and collected champ regularly takes to Twitter to talk strategy after each game. She has, however, revealed that there’s a downside to winning, and she is no gloating champ, that’s for sure. “The one thing that sucks about Jeopardy is that for me to win, the other contestants have to lose,” Amy tweeted. “Madeline was a very nice person as I said, and as a viewer watching at home, I would have loved to see her go on a run of her own (no offense to Dan btw). But I don’t want to lose!”
The one thing that sucks about Jeopardy is that for me to win, the other contestants have to lose. Madeline was a very nice person as I said, and as a viewer watching at home, I would have loved to see her go on a run of her own (no offense to Dan btw). But I don't want to lose!
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 25, 2021
Not too many game show winners (or winners in any arena) would stop to tweet that message, and her triumph will likely be long-lived. Also very important: Schneider has been very clear, throughout her streak so far, that she’s not the first transgender contestant or champ on Jeopardy! In fact, Kate Freeman became the first openly transgender champ quite recently on the show, back in 2020. Following the Thankgiving episode, Amy also tweeted about why she chose to wear a transgender pin on the holiday edition. She wished to provide a signal of support (on national TV) for anyone who might be feeling ostracized from their family (or any unaccepting holiday members) during the holiday season.
So, obviously the thing I hinted at yesterday was the trans flag pin I wore in today's episode (not going to spoil anything else about the episode yet), so I wanted to explain a bit about why I chose to wear it.
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 26, 2021
I didn't want to make too much about being trans, at least in the context of the show. I am a trans woman, and I'm proud of that fact, but I'm a lot of other things, too!
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 26, 2021
The fact is, I don't actually think about being trans all that often, and so when appearing on national television, I wanted to represent that part of my identity accurately: as important, but also relatively minor.
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 26, 2021
But I also didn't want it to seem as if it was some kind of shameful secret. While it's gratifying to know that people didn't necessarily know I was trans until they read about it, I do want people to know that aspect of me. I think being trans is really cool!
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 26, 2021
And there's a specific reason I thought Thanksgiving would be the right time to wear that pin. Thanksgiving is a holiday that is all about family. And that can be hard for anybody who has been ostracized or otherwise cut off from their family…
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 26, 2021
…a group which, sadly, still includes a disproportionately high number of trans people, especially trans youth and trans people of color. So, it felt like a good time to show my membership in, and support of, a community that might be having a hard time right now.
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 26, 2021
Jeopardy! didn’t rest for the holidays, and expect to see Amy defending her winner status again on Monday, November 29.
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