A Utah resident’s “coming out as trans” video — with a heartwarming voiceover from her great-grandmother — has surpassed 1 million views.
Jenna Tea, a transgender woman in Salt Lake City, shared her great-grandma Katherine’s reaction to her revelation in an Aug. 10 Instagram video that has since garnered an outpouring of positive support.
“She always has been so supportive of me ever since I was a kid,” Jenna Tea, 21, told PEOPLE on Friday, Oct. 4. “She always knew I was different than other kids and always saw the difference as a good thing. She is also always telling me how pretty I am, and it is the sweetest thing ever to hear.”
In the viral video, her great-grandma begins, “Well, it’s your life, honey.”
“You have to do what makes you happy,” Katherine continues in the recorded conversation between her and her great-granddaughter, who told PEOPLE she initially came out as a transgender woman on social media in Jan. 19, before she “started taking hormones” in April.
“It’s something that we have to adjust to and sometimes, it’s hard for other people but they’re not living your life, you are,” Katherine adds in the Instagram video’s voiceover. “It’s kind of their problem to readjust and so, the best thing is to put it out there, deal with it, and it is what it is.”
“And I’ve always thought it. I always noticed that you had more of a softer side when you wanted dolls and not trucks and things. There were signs, but we never said anything to you because until you know, it’s not fair to say anything to you either,” she then says. “Because I don’t want you to be unhappy and struggle with this and let it destroy you because people are not accepting. They’re just idiots.”
Jenna Tea with her great-grandmother when they both were younger.
Jenna Tea
To conclude her touching message, Katherine states, “I love you. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re male or female. Whoever is in there, I love.”
Her great-granddaughter then responds, “That means the world.”
Jenna Tea, who works as a makeup artist and a drag performer, told PEOPLE that her great-grandma attends her drag performances.
“Every show she has been to she’s loved so much,” she said. “It’s so special to watch her tip the drag queens and have a good time — it makes my soul so happy. She knows I want drag to be my full-time career in the future and she always believes in me.”
Jenna Tea is not only inspired by trans people who fought for trans rights like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major — but also by trans entertainers.
“As someone who is also documenting my transition online, I really look up to Dylan Mulvaney,” she said of the content creator and actress. “I look up to so many of the beautiful trans actresses on Pose — it is so special to see trans women star and shine in such a big series.”
The trans drag performer also listed drag legend RuPaul as a role model.
“Although RuPaul isn’t trans, she has been probably the biggest role model to me,” she explained. “Without her and Rupaul’s Drag Race, I don’t know if l ever would have found my identity.”
“I look up to so many queens from the show, especially the trans artists, because they have showed me that I can do it too,” Jenna Tea said, naming Gottmik, Peppermint, Sasha Colby, Kerri Colby and Adore Delanoas some who inspire her.
Her great-grandma believes Jenna Tea can be famous like them.
“One thing she said to me recently is, ‘You’re a star! I love watching you perform and seeing you in your element,’ ” she said. “That comment really stuck out to me.”
