Jazz Jennings

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Jazz Jennings is an American YouTube personality, spokesmodel, television personality, and LGBT rights activist. Jennings is notable for being one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender.

Jennings received national attention in 2007 when an interview with Barbara Walters aired on 20/20, which led to other high-profile interviews and appearances. Christine Connelly, a member of the board of directors for the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth, stated, “She was the first young person who picked up the national spotlight, went on TV and was able to articulate her perspective and point of view with such innocence.” Her parents noted that Jennings was clear on being female as soon as she could speak.

Jennings is an honorary co-founder of the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, which she and her parents founded in 2007 to assist transgender youth. In 2013, she founded Purple Rainbow Tails, a company in which she fashions rubber mermaid tails to raise money for transgender children.

Jennings hosts a series of YouTube videos about her life, titled “I Am Jazz”. Jennings stars in the TLC reality TV series, I Am Jazz, which focuses on her life with her family as a teenager and as a transgender youth. The series premiered on July 15, 2015.