May 14, 2026 4:32pm PT

Our Lady J Says Revealing She’s Converted to Judaism Has Been a Lot ‘Harder Than Coming Out as Trans’

The writer and producer has officially changed her name to Yona Speidel.

Marc Malkin

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Marc Malkin

Senior Editor, Culture and Events

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Variety

Yona Speidel, the Emmy nominated writer and producer formerly known as Our Lady J, recently experienced grief as a Jew for the first time. Just six weeks after converting to Judaism in March and officially changing her name, Speidel marked her late brother’s Yahrzeit (the anniversary of one’s death) by lighting a candle and reciting a prayer for the dead. She texted the prayer to her family.

“None of them are Jewish or have any desire to convert, but they all said Yahrzeit,” Speidel tells me over Zoom from her New York City apartment. “They all read the texts and they lit the candles. I feel so lucky to have so much support. I could cry because it’s really a wonderful testament to the amazing people that my family are and the people that they’ve become as well.”

Our Lady J Says Revealing She's Converted to Judaism Has Been a Lot 'Harder Than Coming Out as Trans’