A life that began as a twinkle in West Virginia has made its way to the south side of Charlotte and grown into a bright and colorful rainbow. Like all rainbows, it took storms, rain and sunshine before such true beauty would be fully realized. Of course, that’s all a lavish metaphor, but nothing short of well-deserved when it comes to describing GraceLynn Jae’El.
Raised in an extremely religious family not so willing to accept progressive changes, Jae’El spent years transitioning from what others said and thought she was to who she always knew she could be. Whether on stage capturing audiences with her resonating free style poetry or the moving vocals she often incorporates with her poetic recitations, Jae’El is an ever evolving tenacious force. During this interview, we’ll learn about her journey of becoming who she was truly meant to be.
L’Monique King: Where are you originally from?
GraceLynn Jae’El: I was born in West Virginia and have been in Charlotte for about 20 years now.
LMK: What brought you to Charlotte?
GJ: My grandparents. They adopted me when I was about 12 years old. They decided in March of 2006 after a next-door neighbor and dear friend died, that they wanted to move away from the snow in Beckley, West Virginia, and landed in Rock Hill, South Carolina. I lived with them in Rock Hill until I left for King’s College [in Charlotte, right beside Presbyterian Hospital] in 2009. They offered career courses and associate’s degrees in business, technology, healthcare, computer programming and other industries. They closed down in 2018 after I received my associate’s degree in hospitality. Travel and tourism was my focus. I love to travel, want to travel the world and saw myself working on a cruise ship, routinely sailing to well-known and not-so-well-known destinations.
LMK: Partnered or single?
GJ: I am single as a pringle and ready to mingle [chuckling].
LMK: Describe your ideal mate?
GJ: A white man, 6’2” and above in height. Love-centered, emotionally mature and available. Generous, loves to laugh and travel. Loving Jesus would be an amazing bonus.
LMK: How do you identify?
GJ: As a woman. I am a woman who is Black, queer and transgender. In that order.
LMK: Does any part of your identity pose more challenges than the other?
GJ: Absolutely, and it depends on the day. In the last 50 years every part of my identity has ended up on a supreme court docket, whether [it’s] my womanhood, my Blackness, my queerness or my transition experience. All of it is or has ended before the supreme court. However, I would like to add, how I identify is different from who I am. If you’d asked me who I am, I would have said I am a child of God. I am GraceLynn Avion Jae’El who happens to be a woman, a Black woman, and that’s the truth.
LMK: How do you make a living?
GJ: I’m a certified pharmacy technician who is also an author, officiant and public speaker. I love being an officiant, and not just [at] weddings either. I was ordained in the Progressive Pentecostal Church in 2014 and inducted into the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries in 2025. My path in pharmacy was divinely inspired, and I’ve worked my way up from being a cashier to becoming a pharmacy technician. In my day job as a pharmacy technician I love learning new things. I really enjoy learning new concepts and techniques in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine].
LMK: Let’s talk about guilty pleasures. What’s your favorite dessert?
GJ: Right now I’m addicted to 7/11’s salted caramel cookies. I will go without carbs but will not go more than two days without one of those cookies.
LMK: As a woman who is trans, what’s the most affirming place you’ve experienced in Charlotte?
GJ: This question makes me feel sad because it’s a vastly different answer now than I would have given five years ago or before my transition. A dear friend of mine told me several years ago that “every affirming space is not necessarily affirming to you,” and sadly I have lived that. I’ve also experienced that affirmation is not a set line but more like the waves on a sea shore, always moving. So I’ve learned not to lay my foundation on affirmation. Instead I find my affirmation in my creator. For years I lived as though God was an angry white man in heaven, waiting to strike me down. Today, I see Her as my greatest cheerleader — and I believe in Her belief in me. So the most affirming place I’ve experienced in Charlotte, is within myself.
LMK: How do you practice self care?
GJ: I walk. Walking in nature gives me a deeper connection which invokes a divine calm.
LMK: What makes you curse?
GJ: I-77 during rush hour — trying to get to work. [Exasperated sigh] Hunni, I’ve learned to take back roads and appreciate the beauty of a country road at eight o’clock in the morning.
LMK: What makes you smile no matter what?
GJ: If you want the honest truth, it’s Jesus. I love Jesus, Mariah Carey and Stitch.
LMK: What’s your favorite Mariah Carey song?
GJ: “Hero,” followed closely by “Butterfly” and “I Can Make It Through the Rain.”
LMK: Do you have a trans role model?
GJ: Yes, Lucy Hicks Anderson. A lot of people don’t seem to know who she is and that always surprises me. Lucy Hicks Anderson was tall like me and said, “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I’m not a woman.” I love that. I love that she was a socialite that owned a brothel and am sure if she were alive today that she would be a viral tik-toker.
LMK: How did you come to select and settle on the name GraceLynn?
GJ: I’ve had a few name changes. My first name change after my given name honored my mom, but I [later] realized it didn’t honor me; it wasn’t home. My second name change was a rush — to not be anything close to the name I was given at my birth. The first name change honoring my mother was too close for comfort to my given name. Eventually, the name that felt right for me came from inspiration from two of my favorite T.V. shows: “Will & Grace” and “Greenleaf” [a show about a Black mega church with a female minister that preached with power and grace]. The Lynn in my name was/is about honoring two first ladies in my church experience. In finding a name that was me, I altered the spelling of the Lynn within the First Ladies’ names and combined it with Grace. That happened in December 2021. As soon as I wrote it out, GraceLynn Avion, I thought, this is home.
LMK: When you think about the current administration, what concerns you most?
GJ: The infection of hate that is literally being spread not just throughout the country but around the world.
LMK: With all the vitriol aimed at the trans community, much of which has cost lives, do you have any safety hacks that you can share?
GJ: I knew I was a girl in the ‘90s and was beaten for it at ages five and six and hid and denied my identity until I was in my 30s, not long ago at all. As a child and young adult, I didn’t know the word trans and hadn’t heard [of it as an identifier] until 2010. That said, I’m different from many women who are trans. I do not and will not wear makeup or put on a wig 24hrs a day. But I hold space and understand the fact that many of my sisters who are trans have had to use makeup as war paint. They have to femme it up or they’ll get fucked up. I probably shouldn’t have said that, that way — but it’s true. The hair and makeup become safety hacks — a way of not being easily identified as trans.
LMK: If you had a super power, what would it be?
GJ: To be able to blink like Barbara Eden on “I Dream of Jeannie” or wiggle my nose like Elizabeth Montgomery of “Bewitched” and heal the world. You have to believe in your own magic.
LMK: We’ve heard you’re an author, what do you write?
GJ: I have a published collection of writings called, “True Colors: Retrieving My Rainbow.” It’s a collection of my writings, which include poetry, prose, short stories and a sermon. There are writings by me from when I was 16 to 26 years old. I went as far back as high school and college to collect works that complete what feels like a time capsule. Whenever I write, I time stamp and sign, using whatever name I was using at the time, including the name I was given at birth. I chose to include every single name because I wanted it to be as authentic as possible, reflecting my growth, transition and the time of the writing. The themes within the book spell out the word rainbow.
LMK: If you could have a conversation with trans youth, what would you want them to know?
GJ: One, It gets better. I know, it’s cliché — but it does get better. And two, at 35 I am living the dreams of my five-year-old self. So keep living. Trust God, and keep breathing. Do what you have to until you can do what you want to.
LMK: Taking your own advice, what is GraceLynn doing at 50 years old?
GJ: Traveling the world with her husband and children while serving as executive director of her nonprofit foundation and endowment.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
