As Hannah Wilson’s eight game win streak comes to a close, the Jeopardy! champion has a serene outlook on her run and the significance of appearing on national TV as a trans woman. Now Amy Schneider, the groundbreaking former Jeopardy! champion, has offered her congratulations, jokingly inducting Wilson into the “Guild of Jeopardy Champion Trans Women.”
Wilson, the owner of a yarn shop in Chicago, had dreamed of appearing on Jeopardy! ever since she watched it as a child with her parents. After multiple attempts to get on the show, she is now finishing strong with an eight game winning streak and $229,801. While she may be leaving the show now, she’s not gone for good and will return later this year for “Tournament of Champions.”
Related
A sitcom from Laverne Cox about a trans woman returning to her Alabama hometown? We’re unbelievably seated.
Even though getting on Jeopardy! was a lifelong dream, Wilson was understandably nervous at the prospect of appearing on a cable game show (with massive audiences in red states) as a trans woman. But witnessing Amy Schneider become the first trans woman on the show (and the first woman to win over $1 million) gave her hope.
Culture, unfiltered
Our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.
Schneider did not just inspire Wilson by appearing on TV—she gave Wilson personal encouragement. “I did contact [Schneider] privately before I’d even auditioned,” Wilson told Datebook in a new interview. “I was still pretty early in my gender transition and seeing her was really inspiring.
“But I told her I was really anxious about being on the show, and wondered how it was for her to suddenly be a famous trans person. And she wrote me a great reply, encouraging me to audition.”
Following Wilson’s appearance on the show, Schneider offered her congratulations through social media.
While Schneider’s run on the show was historic, Wilson’s appearance has also already had an impact of its own. Now she gets the kind of messages she once sent Schneider. “Typically I’m a pretty private person. But I’ve been getting these messages that say, like, ‘I’m a closeted kid and my parents watch Jeopardy! every day. So just having a normalized trans person on TV is so important to me,’” she said.
“This is such a strange time for trans people, even compared to a couple of years ago. If having me be on TV helps to normalize queer people in general, then that’s something that I want to keep doing.
“Because Jeopardy! is a nationwide thing. People are watching it in red states and maybe having conversations like, ‘What’d you think of that person?’ So if that can make someone think trans people aren’t groomers and child molesters, that we’re just normal people who go on a game show and have stories to tell, then that’s something I want to do.”
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
