Another ‘The Matrix’ filmmaker, Lilly Wachowski, comes out as trangender

The masterminds of the “The Matrix” film series have now both come out as transgender. Lilly Wachowski, formerly known as Andy Wachowski, has released a statement to reveal her transition following threats from the media.

“SEX CHANGE SHOCKER—WACHOWSKI BROTHERS NOW SISTERS!!!” Lilly opened her statement, continuing, “That’s the headline I’ve been waiting for this past year. “Up until now with dread and/or eye rolling exasperation.”

Lilly, 48, released her statement to Windy City Times. She narrated how she was threatened with outing by other newspapers. She said a reporter from the Daily Mail rang her doorbell to tell her that she had to give him an interview about her “inspirational” story. The reporter didn’t appear to be so flattering, though, as he had followed it with what sounded like a threat: “And that I really didn’t want to have someone from the National Enquirer following me around, did I?”

She then remembered where she heard the UK paper’s name from, saying it was the paper that played a huge part in the national public outing of Lucy Meadows, a transwoman in the UK who worked as an elementary school teacher.

“An editorial in the ‘not-a-tabloid’ demonised her as a damaging influence on the children’s delicate innocence and summarised ‘he’s not only trapped in the wrong body, he’s in the wrong job.’ The reason I knew about her wasn’t because she was transgender, it was because three months after the Daily Mail article came out, Lucy committed suicide,” Lilly wrote.

“And now here they were, at my front door, almost as if to say – ‘There’s another one! Let’s dram ‘em out in the open so we can all have a look!’”

Lilly’s older sister, Lana, is formerly known as Larry Wachowski. In 2012, Lana made her first public appearance after her transition in a moving speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s gala fundraising in the US. She revealed that she considered committing suicide in her younger days.

Both Lana and Lilly have always maintained their privacy, giving as few interviews as possible and declining to talk about their personal lives. Lana’s speech in 2012 and Lilly’s statement, released Tuesday, are few rare times that they gave the public a glimpse of their private thoughts. Lana is married to her wife of seven years, Karin Winslow, while Lilly has been married to Alisa Blasingame since 1991.

“Being transgender is not easy,” Lilly continued. “We live in a majority-enforced gender binary world. This means when you’re transgender you have to face the hard reality of living the rest of your life in a world that is openly hostile to you.”

Lilly is one of the lucky ones who have the support and love of her family. She said that their support and her means to afford medical professionals gave her the chance to survive the difficult process of transitioning. Other transgender people aren’t so lucky.

The Wachowskis were the writers and directors of the super successful “The Matrix” film in 1999. The film was followed with two sequels, “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” in 2003. They were also behind “Speed Racer” (2008) and “Cloud Atlas” (2012). They also created the TV sci-fi drama “Sense8.”