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‘Gingers Have Souls’ viral star comes out as transgender

Aug 03 2016
Written by Nick Duffy

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

A ginger YouTube star who went viral by defending their right to a soul has come out as transgender.

YouTuber CopperCab went viral back in 2010 with an angry back-alley rant aimed at people making discriminatory comments about ginger people.

In the infamous clip, which has more than 40 million views, they fumed: “It really irritates me when South Park says red-haired people don’t have souls. We do! We do have souls!

“I’ve been called a ginger, a fat ginger… gingers have souls! I go to church! You’re not God! I’m a Christian.”

They converted their minute of fame into a vlogging career lasting six years – but posted an emotionally raw video today.

In the clip, the YouTube star comes out as trans, and announces she has changed her name to Claire Kittrell.

Ms Kitterell said: “I know a lot of you are going to make fun of me… a lot of you are going to think I’m joking, but this is the hardest video I’ve ever made.

“I haven’t made a video in five months because I’ve been going through [hormone therapy] because I’m transgender.

“I’m learning to accept myself and be more comfortable in my own skin. I’ve always felt diffent than everyone around me.

“When I first made ‘Gingers Have Souls’, I wasn’t just getting picked on because I was a redhead – I was getting picked on because I was more feminine than the other guys. I was a very lonely person.”

She added that she had been planning to transition for at least three years.

The vlogger continued: “One reason I never came out before was because I felt like a monster. I felt like if I exposed my weak spot, everyone would attack me and I couldn’t deal with that.

“I’m not going to live another year of my life pretending to be someone else. I don’t care if you call me ugly, if you call me a tranny, if you want to pick on me – that’s fine. But I’m going to be myself, whether you can accept that or not.

“I’m not going to pretend anymore. I’m not going to pretend to be somebody else.”

The YouTube star added that she was now working at a restaurant to raise funds for gender reassignment surgery, and would be stepping away from YouTube after the video.