This Jeopardy! champion headed to the White House on Thursday after making quiz show history. Who is ... Amy Schneider?
Schneider, who last year became the first transgender person to qualify for the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, visited the White House for International Transgender Day of Visibility. While there, she met with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and she also spoke with reporters in the briefing room.
"I'm just really, really honored to be here and really grateful that this is being celebrated and that trans people are being celebrated in a place like this," Schneider said.
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She told reporters that by visiting the White House, she hoped to continue "being a trans person out there that isn't monstrous and isn't threatening and is just a normal person like we all are," adding, "The more that people like me can be seen, the harder it is to sustain the myths that are driving a lot of this hate and fear."
Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, racked up $1.38 million during a 40-game winning streak on the show. That's the second-longest winning streak in Jeopardy! history behind only Ken Jennings' 74-game run, and she became the first woman to win $1 million on the show. After her streak concluded, Schneider announced in February she officially quit her day job. "It's a bit nerve-wracking to pivot from software engineer to ... public figure, I guess?" she tweeted.
While at the White House, Schneider slammed "really scary" bills that are "denying medical services to trans youth," adding, "These bills will cause the deaths of children, and that's really sad to me and it's really frightening." She also sent a message to young people living in states passing such laws.
"Hang in there," she said. "I think that this backlash right now is temporary. I think the country overall is on our side and getting more so every day."
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