Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Her successful track record secures her spot in the annual Tournament of Champions, featuring the top 15 contestants of the year battling it out for trivia glory. Only contestants who win five consecutive games are eligible to compete.
Schneider is also the first trans person to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. An advocate for the trans community, she wore a trans flag pin on the Thanksgiving episode, which aired Nov. 25.
“The fact is, I don’t actually think about being trans all that often, and so when appearing on national television, I wanted to represent that part of my identity accurately: as important, but also relatively minor,” Schneider said in a tweet. “But I also didn’t want it to seem as if it was some kind of shameful secret. While it’s gratifying to know that people didn’t necessarily know I was trans until they read about it, I do want people to know that aspect of me. I think being trans is really cool! And there’s a specific reason I thought Thanksgiving would be the right time to wear that pin. Thanksgiving is a holiday that is all about family. And that can be hard for anybody who has been ostracized or otherwise cut off from their family … a group which, sadly, still includes a disproportionately high number of trans people, especially trans youth and trans people of color. So, it felt like a good time to show my membership in, and support of, a community that might be having a hard time right now.”
Schneider grew up in Dayton, graduating from Chaminade-Julienne High School where she was active in the drama department. She also appeared in productions with Dayton Playhouse.
“Jeopardy” airs weeknights at 7:30 on WDTN Channel 2.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
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