In a Where Are They Now?
segment, cabler OWN caught up with two brothers distanced by the
strain of one brother's gender transition.
Julie started the process of becoming
Jake at the age of 14. His younger brother Jason said that the
strain on their family as Jake transitioned broke his bond with his
brother.
The brothers, who shared their story
with Oprah Winfrey three years ago, now say they're best friends.
“I think the reason I was having a
hard time a few years ago coping with my family and with Jake's
transition and everything in my life was because I didn't have many
people that I thought I could turn to,” said Jason, now a
filmmaker.
“Back in 2010, I didn't know how to
approach him, I didn't know how to talk to him about what he was
going through. And I felt kind of bad because he was there for me
through a lot of my struggles,” Jake said.
Last year, PBS aired the short film A
Coming Out Story, written by Jason.
Jake is the founder of Trans United
with Family and Friends, a nonprofit that raises money to help cover
transition costs. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)