LGBT Icon J. J. Totah Unwrap Some Of The Biggest Issues Of Present Times

Updated on August 12, 2022 19:01 PM by Dhinesh

The 21-year-old actress Josie Totah tells PEOPLE about representing the LGBTQ community and Gen Z with her new Crooked Media podcast Dare We Say, which premiered Thursday.

'I wouldn't change that for the world

Totah explains, "I'm a person who has money to pay for my transition, to pay for my health, to be able to pay to move to a place that will allow me to live in my truth and have people help me and fight with me."

She added, "And I will never know what it's like to be a kid in one of those states or in so many of those states who are being persecuted for just living their truth." The actress, who emerged as transgender in 2018, said, "And it is scary being so visible.

But I also understand that it has grave importance, and I wouldn't change that for the world." Totah says she's "proud to be so visible despite this very turbulent time," during which at least 13 U.S. states have signed anti-LGBTQ legislation into law in 2022 alone, as per HRC.

Totah continues, "And I think I'm reminded by that when I meet young people who tell me that they see themselves in me or I've helped them in a certain way. Throw me on the front lines, you know? Give me that risk because that risk is worth saving one other individual."

Dare We Say podcast

Totah has teamed up with her two pals, Saved by the Bell costar Alycia Pascual-Peña and Chapman University sorority sister Yasmine Hamady, to tackle human rights issues and other everyday topics on their minds for Dare We Say.

While celebrating her 21st birthday with her pals in Scotland, Totah recounts how the idea for the podcast came together while Pasqual-Peñ and Hamady stayed with her at her family's house during the eventful summer of 2020.

Totah explains, "We just had these hours-long, extensive conversations on everything that was happening in the world, in pop culture, in politics, and just human rights." She adds, "And we realized that there was value in the things that we were speaking about and that we didn't have a place to speak about these things that weren't our home."

Demographic justice

The Glee alum plans to research topics like pretty privilege, oppression, hookup culture, and performative activism, as well as "how many wigs does Nicole Kidman own and has she gotten a boob job."

She says, "We take a lot of thought and time and consideration to what subject we were bringing to the table. And sometimes the best topics are the ones where none of us agree, and we can learn from each other, like in real-time."

She adds that she didn't feel like Fox News, CNN, and other outlets were "doing our demographic justice," noting Gen Z, "Most of us do care, and we want to be appreciated in that way. We want to be valued for our complexity, and we want to be given a voice and a place to talk about."