Calpernia Sarah Addams (born February 20, 1971) is an American actress, musician, spokesperson and activist for

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

rights and issues.

Early life

Addams grew up in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. She served as a Hospital Corpsman with the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. During her last year in the military, she came out as a

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. Addams chose the name "Calpernia" from the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' (a variant spelling of Caesar's wife Calpurnia) and its appearance on a tombstone in the film ''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

''.

Career

In 2002, she formed Deep Stealth Productions in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

with Andrea James. Deep Stealth creates educational and entertainment material around gender-identification issues and the experiences of differently-gendered people. Addams and James coached

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lynette Scavo in the ABC comedy-drama ''Desperate Housewives'' and her role as Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne, a transgender woman, in the film ''Trans ...

for her

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated performance as a transgender woman in the film '' Transamerica''. At the Sundance debut of '' Soldier's Girl'', Addams met

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

, whose son Troy Garity had played Winchell. Fonda suggested Addams mount an all-transgender production of '' The Vagina Monologues''. The production was to contribute funds and help raise awareness of

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

; it became the subject of the 2006 documentary film '' Beautiful Daughters''. A reality television series entitled '' Transamerican Love Story'', featuring Addams choosing among eight suitors, debuted February 11, 2008, on

Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...

. In April 2008, Addams performed alongside Fonda,

Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...

Salma Hayek Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

, and others in a tenth-anniversary production of ''The Vagina Monologues'' at the

Louisiana Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

. In May 2008, PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chose Addams as PFLAG's spokesperson for their educational campaign, ''This Is Our Love Story''. Addams said, "I hope ''This Is Our Love Story'' will help young transgender people as they come out. By seeing the happy, confident woman I've become, I hope I can act as a role model for these young people at a critical moment in their development." Addams writes a blog on gender issues for ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...

''. Addams has released a single entitled "Stunning", available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. Addams co-produced the song "The Vagina Song" by

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...

, from his debut album '' The Wreckoning'', and made a cameo in the song's music video. In 2015, Addams appeared in the international premiere of "Trans Scripts" a new play by Paul Lucas at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. The production received 24 four- and five-star reviews, a Fringe First Award, a High Commendation from Amnesty International and was shortlisted for the Feminist Fest Award, the Best of Edinburgh Award, and the Holden Street Theater Award.

Personal life

In 1999, while working as a performer, Addams began dating PFC Barry Winchell. Word of the relationship spread at Winchell's Army base where he was harassed by fellow soldiers and ultimately murdered. Winchell's murder and the subsequent trial resulted in widespread press and a formal review of the U.S. "

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on Sexual orientation in the United States military, military service of homosexual people. Instituted during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, the pol ...

" (DADT) military policy, ordered by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

.Black, Chris (December 13, 1999)
Pentagon to review 'don't ask, don't tell' policy.
CNNBecker, Elizabeth (February 2, 2000). Pentagon Orders Training to Prevent Harassment of Gays. ''The New York Times''Pear, Robert (December 12, 1999). President Admits "Don't Ask" policy Has Been Failure. ''The New York Times'' The case became a prominent example used to illustrate the failure of DADT to protect LGBT service members. Addams's and Winchell's romance and the crimes of their abusers are depicted in the film '' Soldier's Girl'', released in 2003. Addams was portrayed by Lee Pace. A subsequent ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' article, "An Inconvenient Woman", documented the marginalization and misrepresentation of transgender sexuality even by

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

activists.

Works

* Calpernia Addams, ''Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender, and Force of Will'' (Writers Club Press, 2002).

References

External links

* *
Calpernia Addams: Widowed by Hate
– Podcast interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Addams, Calpernia 1971 births Living people Writers from Nashville, Tennessee American fiddlers American women non-fiction writers Transgender history in the United States Transgender military personnel Transgender women musicians Transgender women writers Transgender memoirists Transgender rights activists Participants in American reality television series United States Navy sailors Actresses from Tennessee American LGBTQ military personnel American transgender women American transgender actresses American transgender writers American transgender actors American transgender musicians American LGBTQ rights activists 21st-century American actresses Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee LGBTQ people from California LGBTQ people from Tennessee American film actresses American child musicians Writers from Los Angeles Actresses from Los Angeles Musicians from Los Angeles Female United States Navy personnel Activists from Los Angeles Activists from Tennessee American women memoirists United States Navy corpsmen 21st-century American memoirists 21st-century American LGBTQ people