Matrix director Lilly Wachowski comes out as transgender woman four years after her sister did the same

Coming out: Director Lilly Wachowski has revealed that she is transgender
Lilly Wachowski self-portrait courtesy of Windy City Times
Rashid Razaq9 March 2016
The Weekender

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The Matrix director Lilly Wachowski, formerly known as Andy, has come out as transgender in an online post titled “Sex change shocker — Wachowski brothers now sisters!”, four years after her sibling made a similar announcement.

Wachowski, 48, said she decided to make the news public before it was picked up by the press.

She said: “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.”

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Her sister Lana, 50, formerly known as Larry, came out as a transgender woman in 2012.

In her statement for Chicago’s Windy City Times, Lilly touched on the struggles faced by the transgender community.

She said while progress has been made, “we continue to be demonised and vilified in the media where attack ads portray us as potential predators to keep us from even using the goddamn bathroom”.

“So yeah, I’m transgender. And yeah, I’ve transitioned,” she said, adding that she is out to her wife, family and friends.

The Wachowskis, who were born in Chicago and have been notoriously private about their lives, directed 1999’s The Matrix, its two sequels and, more recently, Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending and Netflix sci-fi series Sense8.

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