Bodybuilder Janae Marie Kroc Comes Out As Trans Via Instagram

In a touching message through Instagram, world record holding power lifter Matt Kroczaleski has emerged as Janae Marie Kroc.  In the first post to the @mattkroc account in 16 weeks, Kroc announced she was transgender to her 4,000-plus Instagram followers with a picture on Tuesday.

There has obviously been a great deal of gossip, rumors and questions about me the past few days. To put them to rest: yes, I am transgender/gender fluid. First, I would like to be clear that I had planned to wait until my sons were out of high school before I became openly public about this. As that no longer is an option, I will address it now. I have been very open about this for many years among my family, close friends, and in the powerlifting community, but I realize for many of you this has been a huge shock.  This is something that I have been dealing with my entire life and has been extremely difficult for me. In fact, it even drove me to consider suicide at one point. I never wanted nor asked for this, and fought this as hard as I could for a very long time.  I have finally reached a point where I am comfortable with and proud of whom I am, even if a lot of people don’t understand. I have received an unimaginable amount of support and love in the last twenty four hours from family, friends, fans, and strangers alike and I want to thank every single one of you that have reached out to me.  It honestly means more to me that I can possibly express with the written word. I will share my story in more detail in the coming weeks. In the mean time you can follow me on Instagram @janaemariekroc and my Facebook page can be found under my friends list on facebook under Janae Marie. #truth #m2f #mtf #genderfluid #nonbinary #transgender #beyourself #beyou #powerlifting #bodybuilding #mattkroc #girlslikeus #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtpride

A photo posted by Matthew Kroczaleski (@mattkroc) on Jul 28, 2015 at 4:05am PDT

I want to address a few things to answer many of the questions I have been receiving.  First, unfortunately many of the articles that are appearing on line are stating that I have already fully transitioned.  I have not; I am currently still living life in both genders.  I am trying to wait until my sons are out of high school before moving forward.  This is one hundred percent my decision not theirs.  My sons encourage me to do whatever I need to do and state that they are totally fine with me transitioning now or at any point I see fit.  They are amazing young men and the bond we have is unreal. I also feel I need to state that I do not fit into any of the boxes that society attempts to put us into and never have.  I do identify as both transgender and gender fluid because these are the closest any available labels come to describing who I am.  As my profile states I am both an alpha male and a girly girl; hyper-masculine and hyper-feminine.  In a perfect world I could snap my fingers and go back and forth at will but of course that world does not exist.  That being said if I am forced to pick a gender I identify with more it is female.  However, this really isn’t about me being a boy or a girl or something in between.  This is just about me being me, who I am and who I know myself to be. And again I want to express my deep felt appreciation for all of the support I am receiving.  I am honestly overwhelmed by it and cannot express enough how much it means to me. #transgender #genderfluid #nonbinary #beyourself #beyou #m2f #mtf #girlslikeus #powerlifting #bodybuilding #lgbtq #lgbt #lgbtpride #truth A photo posted by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Jul 29, 2015 at 6:17am PDT

A photo posted by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Jun 21, 2015 at 7:42am PDT

#girlswithmuscle #girlswholift #strongisthenewskinny #trans #transgender #mtf #m2f #genderfluid #nonbinary #girlslikeus #babaygotback

A photo posted by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on May 15, 2015 at 4:40am PDT

A photo posted by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Nov 28, 2014 at 10:21pm PST

(featured image via @JaneMarieKroc)