Is josie totah gay
‘Champions’ Star Josie Totah Comes Out as a Transgender Woman: ‘I’m Ready to Be Free’
Champions star Josie Totah announced Monday that she is a transgender woman.
The 17-year-old actress penned a resoundingly strong essay for Timeannouncing her identity as a trans gal. In it, she addressed the media industry pigeonholing her as “J.J. Totah, lgbtq+ boy,” the anxieties that come with existence a trans woman in the public eye, and the opportunity to play roles that are correct to her identity.
Totah’s prior acting credits include the the Mindy Kaling-produced show Champions, Glee, Other People and the Disney Channel sitcom Jessie, all of which were filmed and released before she came out as trans.
She makes it clear that she’s known her gender identity long before she debuted in the entertainment industry.
“This is not something that just happened. This is not a choice that I made,” she writes. “When I was 5, extended before I understood what the word gender meant, I would always tell my mother that I wished I were a girl.”
Totah w
'Champions' star Josie Totah comes out as transgender
Former Disney actor J.J. Totah has come out as transgender.
In an essay published by Age magazine Monday, the 17-year-old shared her news and announced her new name.
"My pronouns are she, her and hers," she wrote. "I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah."
Totah wrote that while she is grateful for the acting opportunities she's had including in the TV series "Champions" and "Glee" and in films including "Other People," she feels "like I leave myself be shoved into a box: 'J.J. Totah, queer boy.' "
"When I was really juvenile, growing up in a small town in Northern California, people would just assume I was gay," she wrote. "On the playground, I was the type of kid who wanted to sing with the girls, not compete soccer with the boys. Then I found myself playing that role once I got into the entertainment industry, and people kept assuming my identity."
That included being asked in interviews how it felt to be a immature, gay man and being introduced as such while presenting an award for an LGBTQ organization.
"I understand that they didn't really grasp better," Totah wrote. "I almost fel
Former Disney actor announces she's transgender
Former "Champions" star J.J. Totah revealed in a new personal essay that she's transgender and goes by the name Josie.
Totah, who had roles in Disney's "Jessie" and "Sofia the First," as good as shows including "New Girl" and "Glee," wrote that she always enable people assume that she was a gay male, and only clarified previously that she identified as LGBTQ.
However, she added that more recently, she's realized that "hiding my genuine self is not healthy."
"I know now, more than ever, that I’m finally ready to take this step toward becoming myself. I’m ready to be free. So, listen up y’all: You can bounce on or jump off. Either way this is where I’m heading," she explained in her essay for Time. "My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah."
Totah, 17, explained that she's always known that she's female, but it "crystallized" about three years ago when she was watching "I Am Jazz," the reality TV show about transgender teen Jazz Jen
Champions' Josie Totah Comes Out as a Transgender Female
Josie Totah is standing in her truth.
In an essay for TIME, the teen star revealed she identifies as a transgender female. "Acting has always been my infatuation. I'm grateful for roles I've gotten to play on shows like Champions, and I perceive I'm lucky to be fit to do what I love," the 17-year-old, who had worked under the name J.J. Totah, said. "But I also experience like I let myself be shoved into a box: 'J.J. Totah, gay boy.'"
During her formative years in Northern California, Totah recalled how "people would just assume I was gay." Once she began acting professionally, "People kept assuming my identity."
Totah, who found fame via a recurring role on the children's television series Jessie, was often asked in interviews "how it feels to be a young lgbtq+ man." In fact, the 17-year-old star wrote, "I was even introduced that way before receiving an award from an Gay rights organization." Sometimes, Totah recalled she "halfway corrected people by telling them I identify as LGBTQ."
The actress, w