Jamie Anthony Lotun-Raines[3][4][5] (born 19 February 1994[6]) is an English YouTuber and LGBTQ activist.[7] His videos include commentary on gender identity and other LGBTQ+ issues as well as general lifestyle topics. Raines is a trans man and has documented his gender transition, including the effects of hormone replacement therapy and gender reassignment surgery.[8] His channel, Jammidodger, has over one million subscribers.[1]
| Jamie Lotun-Raines | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | 19 February 1994 Colchester, Essex, England |
| Education | |
| Occupation(s) | Psychologist, YouTube personality |
| Spouse |
Shaaba Lotun-Raines (m. 2022) |
| Website | shaabaandjamie.com |
| YouTube information | |
| Also known as | Jammidodger |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Genre(s) | LGBTQIA+, commentary, lifestyle and Inclusivity activist. |
| Subscribers | 1.1 million[2] |
| Total views | 258 million[1][2] |
| Associated acts | Noahfinnce, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard |
Last updated: 3 January 2024 | |
Early and personal life
editRaines is from Colchester in Essex. He attended St Mary's School in Colchester, and later Colchester Sixth Form College.[7]
Raines recalls feeling like a boy from the age of four, and that he chose to express himself in masculine ways from an early age. At the age of 16, he realized he was transgender after watching a documentary involving a trans man and relating to their shared experiences.[8] He describes his family and close friends as being immediately supportive and choosing the name Jamie with their help.[9] In order to document the physical changes he underwent during his transition, Raines took a photograph of himself each day for three years.[10]
Raines is married to fellow YouTuber Shaaba Lotun-Raines (née Lotun).[11][12][13][14] Both are bisexual.[15] The two met in a college art class and became close friends prior to Raines' transition.[8] When Raines came out, Lotun's family initially disapproved of their relationship, but eventually grew to support the couple's relationship.[11] They then attended university together and both now hold PhDs.[16][17] Each makes semi-regular appearances on the other's YouTube channel.[18]
Raines received his Gender Recognition Certificate late in 2019, which allows him to be recognised as a man in marriage.[19] He describes this as marking the end of his transition process.[20] The couple had initially planned to marry in 2020 but they chose to delay the wedding due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, which would have prevented members of Lotun's Mauritian extended family from attending, eventually marrying in 2022.[21]
Raines and Lotun share two cats, Apollo [b. 2013/14], and Prawn [b. 2021].[22][23]
Career
editSocial media
editRaines started the YouTube channel Jammidodger in 2011.[1] The title is a reference to his name and to Jammie Dodgers, a popular type of biscuit in the UK.[citation needed] Having found YouTube videos to be a useful resource when discovering his own gender identity, abuse in early childhood,[24] he started the channel to provide a UK perspective on the transition process as well as to document the process for himself.[8]
Over time the channel has evolved to cover broader LGBT+ issues and also more general lifestyle content such as reacting to internet memes and subreddits, and reviewing cat toys.[25] Raines was prominent among the many YouTubers to make videos criticising the views about trans people expressed by J. K. Rowling.[26]
In 2020, both Raines and Lotun made videos as part of Southend Council's Protect Your Fam project to encourage social distancing, hand-washing and mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic.[27]
In addition to frequently appearing in videos with his wife, Shaaba, Raines has made videos collaborating with other YouTubers such as Jessica Kellgren-Fozard and Noahfinnce.[28][29]
Raines has a significant audience on both Instagram, with 235,000 followers, and Twitter, with 52,400 followers.[30][31] Raines more frequently uploads to Instagram, using story and grid posts to share information about upcoming videos and projects, as well as general daily life.
Raines and Lotun began livestreaming together on Twitch in April 2020, playing video games while talking with viewers.[32]
Research
editRaines has a master's degree[7] and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Essex. He was awarded his doctorate in 2021.[33][16][34] He has conducted research into the sexual response of transgender men[35] as well as other topics related to gender and sexuality.[36]
Writing
editRaines' first book, The T in LGBT: Everything you need to know about being trans (ISBN 9781785044298), was released on 30 June 2023, published by Ebury Publishing's Vermilion imprint.[37] An audiobook is also scheduled for release by Penguin Random House Audio, with narration by Raines and Lotun.[38]
Reception
editRaines' series of daily selfies, which he took during three years of his gender transition, were compiled into a 20-second montage for the Channel 4 television documentary Girls To Men.[25][10][39]
Raines was featured in the Channel 4 documentary series Bride and Prejudice covering the tensions within Lotun's family in the run up to their engagement.[7]
Awards
editIn 2020, Raines was a finalist in the LGBTQ+ Account section at the 12th Shorty Awards.[40]
In 2022, Raines won the Online Influencer award at the British LGBT Awards.[41]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Jammidodger - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b "About Jammidodger". YouTube.
- ^ @jammi_dodger94 (28 January 2021). "It's officially OFFICIAL! I feel like I've posted about this a lot, and I have been Dr Raines since I passed my viv…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: FTM transgender: How I Chose my Name. YouTube.
- ^ Lotun, Shaaba; Raines, Jamie (29 September 2022). "reacting to your wedding assumptions 👀". YouTube. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "I Googled Myself || Birth Name & Income" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b c d "Transgender groom hopes to win over prejudices on Channel 4 show". Gazette. 21 June 2018.
- ^ a b c d "This transgender man documented his amazing journey on YouTube for over five years". Independent.ie. 8 July 2017.
- ^ Light, Kate (2017). Gender identity : the search for self. New York, NY. p. 53. ISBN 9781534560246.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b "Watch: Trans man took a selfie every day for three years during transition". Attitude.co.uk. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ a b ""My mum wouldn't accept my trans boyfriend"". Cosmopolitan. 11 October 2018.
- ^ Bakar, Faima (27 September 2018). "Muslim woman explains difficulties of marrying her transgender best friend".
- ^ "Shaaba. - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Husband & Wife Q&A. - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Bisexuals React to Bisexual TikTok" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b "What Science Says About Trans Men" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ I guess I'm a Dr now?! 👩🏽🎓 [149] 730 Hours vlog, retrieved 5 June 2023
- ^ "Jamie Raines". Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ "Why I Can't Get Married Right Now" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "This Marks The End of My Transition" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "We Cancelled Our Wedding" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Realities of Owning a Cat, retrieved 6 June 2023
- ^ "Meet Prawn". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Trans man shares his transition experience in amazing YouTube videos". GCN. 20 December 2019.
- ^ Dodgson, Lindsay. "YouTube's transgender community is speaking out against JK Rowling's latest 'transphobic' comments". Insider.
- ^ "Social media stars push social distancing and face coverings in council's £10k Covid campaign". Echo. 27 November 2020.
- ^ Fears of Being LGBTQ+ Parents | ft. @jessicaoutofthecloset & Claudia, retrieved 5 June 2023
- ^ Trans Guys Comparing Transitions ft. Noah Finnce, retrieved 5 June 2023
- ^ "@jammi.dodger". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ "@jammi_dodger94". Twitter. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ "shaabaandjamie". Twitch. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ Raines, Jamie (9 January 2021). Being Transgender: Effects of Behaviour, Arousal and Wellbeing (phd). University of Essex – via repository.essex.ac.uk.
- ^ "Sexual responsiveness of transgender men matches their identity". University of Essex. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ Raines, Jamie; Holmes, Luke; Watts-Overall, Tuesday M.; Slettevold, Erlend; Gruia, Dragos C.; Orbell, Sheina; Rieger, Gerulf (26 February 2021). "Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men". Psychological Science. 32 (4): 485–495. doi:10.1177/0956797620971654. PMID 33635743.
- ^ "Jamie RAINES | University of Essex, Colchester | Department of Psychology".
- ^ The T in LGBT. 29 June 2023.
- ^ "Audiobook recording". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ "Girls To Men - Jamie's Transgender Transmission Timelapse" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Jammi Dodger - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com.
- ^ "Winners 2022". 22 June 2022.
