D. Smith has announced that he is now living and presenting as a man, ending 12 years of publicly living as a transgender woman.
The Grammy-nominated producer and former “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” cast member made the announcement on Instagram on September 17, sharing a photograph of himself dressed in masculine clothing and saying he had entered what he described as a new chapter of his life.
“For most of my life, I’ve followed my heart, even when the path wasn’t easy to understand,” Smith wrote. “Over the last twelve years, I lived my life publicly as a transgender woman. Those years weren’t a mistake. They were real.”
Smith said the years he spent living as a woman brought him significant experiences, relationships and personal lessons that he intends to carry forward. He stressed that his decision to live as a man was not an attempt to erase that part of his life.
“Going forward, I’ll be living and presenting as a man and using he/him pronouns,” he wrote. “This isn’t about erasing my past. Living my life as a woman for 12 years showed me the man that I wanted to become.”
Smith also addressed his continued relationship with the transgender community, saying his respect and love for transgender people remain unchanged. He said he believes everyone should be able to live with dignity, safety and compassion and have the freedom to become themselves.
The announcement marks another significant turn in a public journey that has already included major changes in Smith’s personal and professional life. Before coming out as transgender, Smith had established himself as a music producer and earned a Grammy nomination.
Smith previously said that coming out had a serious effect on his professional relationships. In comments made years ago, he recalled being surprised when people he had worked with began distancing themselves from him. According to Smith, music that had been close to release was pulled and some friends stopped returning his calls.
His public transition also became part of his television career. Not long after coming out, Smith joined the cast of “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta”, the reality series focused on personalities working in the hip-hop and R&B industries.
Now, after 12 years of living publicly as a transgender woman, Smith is once again defining his identity in a different way. He has not presented the change as a rejection of the experiences that came before it, but as part of an ongoing process of personal growth.
“Life is constantly pushing me to grow,” Smith wrote, adding that he had chosen purpose over fear despite periods when he felt tired, discouraged or alone.
Smith said there was more to his story than he was ready to explain in his announcement and that he would share more when the time was right. For now, he asked people to give him the space to continue growing.
The announcement leaves questions about what comes next for Smith professionally, particularly as he continues to move between music, film and television. He did not indicate in his statement whether the change in how he identifies would lead to any specific changes in his career.
For Smith, however, the immediate focus appears to be personal rather than professional. After years of navigating his identity in public, he is asking for room to begin another chapter on his own terms.
