[COMMENTARY] Transphobic Conservatives Attack Historic Jeopardy Champion Amy Schneider
Amy Schneider made history last week, becoming the first woman to win the most consecutive regular season episodes of Jeopardy! and the highest-earning woman to ever appear on the show. She’s also gained a rabid fanbase on social media and has handled her newfound millionaire status with the same pragmatism she uses to approach the board.
Oh yeah, she’s also the first out transgender contestant to make it to the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. And you know what that means: the worst people are big mad about that.
Most conservatives probably don’t watch a lot of Jeopardy!, because it’s a game show for the nerdy smart kids (I don’t mean you, George Will, you probably are a devoted viewer), and therefore it’s already something for them to make fun of. Conservatives also don’t like it when any member of the transgender community bests a cishet person at anything, from sports to politics to trivia about the Middle Ages, because in their minds it means something is being taken away from the cisgender people of the planet. So here comes wicked smart Amy Schneider representing for all of the other smart girls, and they just can’t let her live while she keeps winning a game where the money isn’t printed with images of Mr. Monopoly.
But if I wagered that much and lost, it would put me below the million mark, and I didn't want that hanging over me all evening. So I bet an amount that, if I lost, would put me at $1,000,000 exactly (yes, I'd made sure to memorize how much I needed lol).
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) January 9, 2022
And of course it was correct! I'd cleared the million with room to spare, kept the streak going, and I'd be back to play more tomorrow!
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) January 9, 2022
On Twitter, transphobic users claimed that transgender women are naturally better at trivia games than cisgender women, so Schneider’s wins aren’t meaningful. Right-wing rag The Blaze misgendered her in their coverage, as did all of her detractors. Schneider got more support than hate, thankfully, including from the woman who had previously held the record before Amy came along and took a sledgehammer of smarts to it.
Well, it was fun to hold a Jeopardy record for a few years…but it's been even more fun to watch @Jeopardamy set new standards for excellence, on the show and off. Congratulations to Amy on becoming the woman with the highest overall earnings in the show's history! 📿👑
— Larissa Kelly (@Larissa_K_Kelly) December 24, 2021
Haters are gonna hate while the transgender community continues to break barriers and societal norms. And win all the money from Jeopardy!
I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man. Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind 🙏
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) December 31, 2021
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