After reading the book, Being Jazz: My Life as a Transgender Teen, we emailed the organization that Jazz co-founded; Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation. In return Jazz’s mom emailed us back asking if we had any specific questions for Jazz. She would then email Jazz our questions for her to answer and get back to us. We came up with these questions:

 

While writing the book, did you feel like there were some stories that you considered not sharing because maybe they were too personal? Or did you feel very open writing the book?

 

Do you look back at the book and want to add something in, or take something out?

 

How has fame changed you? And when did you first notice that you were considered ‘famous’ or had almost a fan base?

 

What did you learn about yourself while writing the book, or filming your show?

 

We learned that the situation at school wasn’t always the best, have things improved?

 

How do you deal with people who don’t completely understand your story? And the people who don’t want to understand your story?

 

You are such an inspiration to people all over the world in different situations. What advice would you give to people who are going through the same situation you went through, or maybe even worse situations?

 

Jazz’s mom emailed us back after a few days with her answers:

 

While writing the book, did you feel like there were some stories that you considered not sharing because maybe they were too personal? Or did you feel very open writing the book?

 

I’m a pretty open person. I think I shared many personal stories in my memoir. I had to limit what I included, otherwise, the book would have been too long. There were a couple of incidents I didn’t share, because they were very embarrassing.

 

> Do you look back at the book and want to add something in, or take something out?

 

I have no regrets in life, I’m very pleased with the way the book turned out.

 

> How has fame changed you? And when did you first notice that you were considered ‘famous’ or had almost a fan base?

 

I don’t consider myself famous, so the recognition I receive definitely hasn’t changed me at all. I’m just me!

 

I’m a very humble person. I’m just trying to open hearts and minds, and the media gives me the opportunity to utilize a large platform. When I started to creating YouTube videos, I realized that a lot of people were interested in hearing what I had to say. That’s when I first realized that I had, “fans”.

 

> What did you learn about yourself while writing the book, or filming your show?

 

I’ve learned that it’s a lot of work! Especially, filming the show. It’s very time consuming, but worth every moment.

 

> We learned that the situation at school wasn’t always the best, have things improved?

 

School hasn’t been much of a problem lately. There have been a few minor incidents with people being rude to me; since high school began, but otherwise the kids are accepting. Personally, I don’t like school. It’s an academic means to an end. I just want to get through it so I can begin leading life on my own terms.

 

> How do you deal with people who don’t completely understand your story? And the people who don’t want to understand your story?

 

I almost always ignore those who aren’t kind to me. I can’t reach everyone. There will always be people who don’t accept me.

 

> You are such an inspiration to people all over the world in different situations. What advice would you give to people who are going through the same situation you went through, or maybe even worse situations?

 

I always tell kids to be proud of who they are. I encourage them to emerge from the shadows and live their lives authentically. I know it’s hard and scary, but everyone deserves to be happy. Many kids don’t have accepting parents. My heart goes out to them. I tell them to find acceptance with friends, other family members, and adult mentors. I let them know they the shouldn’t give up hope because things will get better.

 

P.S. Thanks for all your kind words and support. It means a lot to me.

 

We were all very surprised and thankful that she emailed us back with these answers. She is such an inspiration to us and we will definitely mention her during our teach-in in the spring.