Nicole Maines
- Birth Name: Wyatt Maines, born on October 7, 1997
- Transitioned: Started identifying as a girl at age 3 and officially transitioned while in Elementary School
- Known for:
- Being the anonymous plaintiff in the landmark case Doe v. Regional School Unit 26 in 2013
- Being, with her family, the subject of the book Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family, written by Washington Post writer Amy Ellis Nutt
- Staring in the CW series Supergirl as Nia Nal
Nicole, in addition to acting, is a transgender rights activist. Doe v. Regional School Unit 26 was actually her and her family suing her school district as a teenager, claiming that they could not deny her access to the girl’s restroom simply because she is transgender.
About having trans people play trans roles, she said, “When we have a trans woman playing a trans woman, then you see, ‘Oh wait, this is what trans really is. This is what it looks like: a person.’ That sends a message to trans kids that they are valid in their identities that they are allowed to exist.”
Nicole Maines
Josie Totah
- Birth Name: J. J. Totah, born on August 5, 2001
- Transitioned: In 2018, at the age of 17
- Known for:
- Staring in Disney Channel series Jessie as Stuart Wooten
- Staring in ABC series Back in the Game as Michael Lovette
- Staring in the movie Other People as Justin
Josie began her acting career at a young age, playing male roles. Her performance as Michael Lovette in Back in the Game earned her Sundance Breakout Stars of the Year in Variety in 2016. She came out as a transgender woman in an article published in Time in August 2018.
Josie wrote in her Time article about coming out as a transgender woman, “In the past, I’ve halfway corrected people by telling them I identify as LGBTQ. I wasn’t ready to be more specific. I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted, that I would be embarrassed, that the fans who knew me from the time when I acted in a Disney show would be confused. But I realized over the past few years that hiding my true self is not healthy. I know now, more than ever, that I’m finally ready to take this step toward becoming myself. I’m ready to be free.”
Josie Totah
