LOS ANGELES • The Matrix film- maker Lilly Wachowski, formerly known as Andy, came out as a transgender woman on Tuesday in a candid post titled "Sex change shocker - Wachowski brothers now sisters!!!", four years after her sibling Lana made the same announcement.
Lilly Wachowski, 48, released the statement to the Chicago-based LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) publication Windy City Times, it said, after a journalist from Britain's Daily Mail attempted to coerce her to do an interview about her transition.
She wrote that the title of her post was "the headline I've been waiting for this past year", recounting how several news outfits had threatened to out her against her will.
She said she was prompted to act after being approached at home this week by the Mail.
"I knew at some point I would have to come out publicly. You know, when you're living as an out transgender person, it's kind of difficult to hide. I just wanted - needed some time to get my head right, to feel comfortable. But apparently I don't get to decide this," she wrote.
"So yeah, I'm transgender. And yeah, I've transitioned," she said, adding that she is out to her wife, family and friends.
But she did not specifically mention gender reassignment surgery.
Her sister Lana, 50, formerly known as Larry, came out publicly as a transgender woman in 2012.
In her statement, Lilly Wachowski touched on the struggles faced by the transgender community and said that while progress has been made, "we continue to be demonised and vilified in the media".
The Wachowskis, who are notoriously private and rarely give interviews, have carved out a reputation for themselves as directors of the Matrix trilogy, V For Vendetta (2005), Cloud Atlas (2012) and, most recently, the Netflix sci-fi series Sense8.
Lilly Wachowski's transition comes amid a growing spotlight on the transgender community.
Reality TV star and Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, has so far been the most high-profile personality to come out as a transgender woman.
REUTERS
