Former ‘Bachelorette’ star Josh Seiter describes ‘abuse’ since coming out as trans: ‘I fear for my safety’

nypost.com:

A former Bachelorette star who came out as transgender since the show says she doesn’t need surgery or hormone treatment to “be a woman.”Josh Seiter, 37, who was born male, and appeared on season 11 of TV show in 2015 as a cis male competing with others to match with a single woman.But she came out as a trans woman in May 2024 and has faced death threats since.Josh has now revealed she is not on hormone medication and is unsure if she will get surgery.She says she’s now realised she “doesn’t need to take anything to be a trans woman”.But this hasn’t stopped trolls cruel comments over her decision to turn down surgery and keep traditionally-male features like facial hair.She says some abuse has even come from trans people who say she is not trans or part of the LGBTQ+ community.Josh, a influencer, from Chicago, Illinois, said: “I fear for my safety all the time.“If I am in a restaurant, a park or in downtown Chicago I get nervous.“I am looking behind my back and wondering if someone is going to stab me or hurt me.“The abuse I have been getting is pretty awful – I have been met with intolerance, bigotry and gatekeeping.”Josh said she has struggled with his identity for as long as she can remember.Aged seven she would often go into her parent’s bedroom while they were out and put on her mum’s dresses and jewellery.Josh said: “I couldn’t articulate what I was going through but I knew I felt comfortable.“I was homeschooled in a very conservative Christian family.“It was only in college that I was given the freedom to explore my gender identity.“It was during that time that I knew I was trans but 18 years ago there wasn’t that vocabulary.”Josh came out as pansexual in January 2021 but it wasn’t until his dad died in April that.