I Am Jazz tackles some tough terrain
Being a teen is hard enough, but being a famous transgender teen can just about break a gal.
In the third season of I Am Jazz, the docuseries chronicling Jazz Jennings’ transition, Jennings weighs the complications of gender reassignment surgery, goes to therapy and meets with conservative commentator Tomi Lahren.
She also deals with typical teen trials like learning to drive and dating. And the pressure of everything is starting to chafe.
“I just really hate myself,” Jennings tells her dad in a teaser video for the new season. She also sobs to her mom, “I just feel bad about myself.”
Jennings’ mother spoke with Access Hollywood about realizing that her daughter was transgender.
“I did my homework and I realized that this is not a phase — she likes girlie things but she’s saying she’s a girl and it’s going even further than that. So I did my education, I visited doctors, spoke to people and she was actually diagnosed with gender dysphoria, at the age of three,” she said.
“And I knew that meant a rough road for her, and I found out that 50 per cent of kids like Jazz try to kill themselves. I wasn’t taking no chances. You want to wear a dress, you want to be a girl? What’s the worst-case scenario? You’ll change your mind? Big deal. Who cares? I just want you to be happy.”
I Am Jazz won the GLAAD Media Award for outstanding reality program last year.
SKETCHY CHARACTERS
Baroness von Sketch Show, CBC’s all-female satire series, debuts season 2 on Tuesday. Mining everyday absurdities and embarrassments for comedy, it stars Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen. Topics include marriage equality, screen addiction, Airbnbs and ultrasounds. Baroness von Sketch Show won three Canadian Screen Awards last year, including one for its writing and one for best overall variety or sketch comedy program or series.