Jeopardy! icon Amy Schneider celebrates coming out anniversary with defiant message to trolls

Jeopardy! history-maker Amy Schneider has marked the eighth anniversary of her coming out as a transgender woman with a defiant message to online trolls.

Schneider came out as trans back in 2017, four years prior to her first appearance on the game show. She currently holds the longest streak win by a woman in Jeopardy! history with 40 consecutive game wins.

In a post on X yesterday (30 June), Schneider wrote: “Eight years ago today, I came out as a woman. And despite all the cogent arguments people have made on this site, such as ‘No you’re not!’ or ‘Eww, gross!’, I’m still a woman.”

She added: “If you disagree, please feel free to say so using an argument I’ve heard a million times before, thanks!”

Schneider has been widely celebrated for her huge Jeopardy! success, even being commended with a GLAAD Special Recognition award in recognition of her performance.

In November 2022, she became the first publicly trans woman to compete – and then win – the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.

Yet her historic appearance on the NBC series has also seen her experience fierce anti-trans trolling on social media.

Following up her celebratory coming out anniversary message, Schneider responded to a number of the trolls who attempted to deny the fact that she’s a woman, and others who had more inquisitive questions.

Asked whether she believes in “only two genders”, Schneider replied: “Gender is like color; it’s a concept we use to group similar things together.

“People have always recognized gender as a spectrum (otherwise we wouldn’t have words like ‘effeminate’ or ‘tomboy’). How many colors are there? As many as we need to communicate in a given context.”

Eight years ago today, I came out as a woman. And despite all the cogent arguments people have made on this site, such as “No you’re not!” or “Eww, gross!”, I’m still a woman. If you disagree, please feel free to say so using an argument I’ve heard a million times before, thanks!

— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) June 30, 2025

When one troll said that Schneider’s original post “really took balls”, Schneider expertly quipped: “Haha, ‘balls’. I get it. Because of my testicles, right? Which to be clear, I do have.”

A third suggested she should have “worked much harder to pass”, to which Schneider wrote: “There is no amount of work I could do that would satisfy everyone. So, I do enough to satisfy me.”

Another social media user questioned whether she has “XX chromosomes”. Schneider cooly responded: “I honestly don’t know, I’ve never checked. And when I meet new people, I don’t take a DNA sample before deciding what gender they are.

“Like everyone else, I use a constellation of indicators, including clothes, physical appearance, expressed statements, etc” she added.

In addition to schooling social media dwellers, Schneider has spent the years since her original Jeopardy! win well, having released her memoir In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life in 2023.

A young readers’ version, Who Is Amy Schneider?: Questions on Growing Up, Being Curious, and Winning It Big on Jeopardy! was released earlier this year.

Schneider married her wife, Genevieve Davis, in 2022.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.