Jamie Lee Curtis’ one daughter, Ruby, 28, stayed out of the spotlight until her personal journey and gender transition became public knowledge. But what would she look like today if she never transitioned?
Ruby Guest works as a video editor for a gaming personality on YouTube, married in 2022, and she also underwent a gender transition. The road that led to her life now had been one marked by learning, acceptance, and support. But what if she never transitioned from male to female? What would she look like now? Read on to find out.
In 2020, Ruby finally felt confident enough to share her true self with her parents, and eventually, the world. Admittingly, it took longer after a bad therapy experience, but her mom and dad have since “watched in wonder and pride as [their] son became [their] daughter Ruby.”
Jamie Lee Curtis and actor/writer/director Christopher Guest have been married since 1984, and also share a daughter, Annie, nine years older than Ruby. In 2020, Ruby sat her parents down at the family’s Los Angeles home to share her truth, but at first, she couldn’t.
“It was scary — just the sheer fact of telling them something about me they didn’t know. It was intimidating — but I wasn’t worried. They had been so accepting of me my entire life,” Ruby said in an interview.
Instead of telling her parents, Ruby left and texted her mother instead. “I called her immediately. Needless to say there were some tears involved,” Jamie Lee recalled.
Ruby has since reached a point where she is comfortable talking about her journey publicly, and in doing so, hopes to help others.
“I’ve tried to stay out of the spotlight for many years, or at least done my best to. I’m happy to be more visible if it helps others,” she said.
For Jamie Lee, it’s been a new experience. “It’s speaking a new language. It’s learning new terminology and words,” she said. “I am new at it. I am not someone who is pretending to know much about it. And I’m going to blow it, I’m going to make mistakes. I would like to try to avoid making big mistakes.”
The actress has also learned so much since Ruby came out. “You slow your speech down a little. You become a little more mindful about what you’re saying. How you’re saying it. You still mess up, I’ve messed up today twice. We’re human,” Jamie Lee added.
But like Ruby, Jamie Lee hopes sharing their experience as a family will help others. “But if one person reads this, sees a picture of Ruby and me and says, ‘I feel free to say this is who I am,’ then it’s worth it,” the actress said.
Ruby always knew she was different, and even though she would say that her gender was male, she knew deep down that it wasn’t her truth.
“When I was about 16, a friend of mine who is trans asked me what my gender was. I told them, ‘Well, I’m male.’ After, I’d dwell on the thought. I knew I was — maybe not Ruby per se, but I knew I was different,” she explained.
Jamie Lee’s youngest daughter also noted that she is still the same person she’s always been, it’s just her appearance that now matches that as well.
“People will still remember me for who I was, but I haven’t changed that. They finally get to see who I’ve always been, you know, inside, but now I finally get to show it on the outside,” Ruby explained.
While Ruby is grateful for the support and help she’s received from those close to her, she recognizes the importance of it on a larger scale.
“Helping others is something everyone should do. I don’t think it’s only our household thing. It should be a human thing,” she concluded.
Ruby’s words came after her mom jumped to her defense when homophobic threats against her made the rounds, as we previously reported. Jamie Lee Curtis revealed there were threats made against her daughter during an interview in October 2022, to her shock.
Curtis said people threatened to “annihilate” Ruby and people like her just for being transgender. She added that she could not fathom “the level of hatred” among society which is “terrifying.”
The “My Girl” star admitted that she is “scared” for her child’s life but noted that she has a “voice” that she intends to use while encouraging others to do the same if they want to see change.
While Jamie Lee and her husband adopted both their kids, she is every bit the devoted and protective mother. She cut Ruby’s umbilical cord right after birth in March 1996, and was the first person to hold her.
Even though she can’t remember how they came to be Ruby’s parents, it happened after several “circumstances occurred, all of which were celestial.”
