Matrix Director Was Terrified to Come Out as Trans to Family

In a candid interview with The New Yorker, co-director of the Matrix trilogy, Lana Wachowski, opens up about her biggest fears around coming out as transgender to her family.

"For years, I couldn't even say the words 'transgendered' or 'transsexual,'" Wachowski told The New Yorker. "When I began to admit it to myself, I knew I would eventually have to tell my parents and my brother and my sisters. This fact would inject such terror into me that I would not sleep for days."

But Wachowski's family accepted her with open arms. When she came out to her mother, Wachowski said, her mother was worried she would lose her son, who was struggling with depression, a bitter divorce, and gender issues. "Instead, I've just found out there is more of you," said Wachowski's mother, Lynne.

By 2009, Wachowski's exterior appearance better aligned with her personal identity, and she met and fell in love with her second wife. Wachowski says that once her biggest fears about familial acceptance were put to bed, "everything else has been a piece of cake."

Regarding whether or not she has undergone gender-reassignment surgery, Wachowski acknowledges the cultural curiosity. "I know that many people are dying to know if I have a surgically constructed vagina or not, but I prefer to keep this information between my wife and me," she said.