The second sibling of the filmmaking duo known as The Wachowskis has come out as transgender.
Lily Wachowski, formerly known as Andy, made the announcement four years after her sister Lana first identified as transgender. Her decision followed what she said was the threat of being publicly outed by Britisih newspaper the Daily Mail.
The 48 year old film-maker issued a lengthy statement to Chicago's Windy City Newspaper, which explained the reasoning behind her decision to identify herself publicly.
"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", she said.
She also said that her decision was prompted by an encounter with a journalist from the Daily Mail who arrived at her door on Monday night, asking her to reveal her gender identity for the newspaper.
"In response to this threatened public outing against my will, I had a prepared a statement that was one part piss, one part vinegar and 12 parts gasoline", she said.
In her statement Lilly Wachowski touched on the struggles faced by the transgender community, and said that although 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.
Lana and Andy Wacholski before he transitioned
Her sister Lana Wachowski, formerly known as Larry, came out publicly as a transgender woman in 2012 promotional run for their film Cloud Atlas. The pair are notoriously private about their lives, and rarely give interviews.
In addition to The Matrix and its two sequels, the siblings have also directed Bound, Cloud Atlas, Speed Racer, last year's Jupiter Ascending and the acclaimed Netflix TV series Sense8.
Daryl Hannah in a scene from Sense8
