By Randall Ellison

Zachary Travis, 19 years of age, resides in Denver, Colorado. He has one sibling: Mikayla who is two years younger. He presently works as a sales clerk in Littleton.

During his childhood, Zachary expressed a great deal of interest in music. He would often sing along to (and mimic) many of his favourite bands on radio and television including The Cardigans and Spice Girls. Zachary especially enjoyed the company of his nanny, Keri, who cared for both him and his little sister. At seven years of age, Zachary was a very playful and energetic child. Keri and Zachary enjoyed many activities together -- one of their favorite past-times was the trampoline. She was equally as supportive of Zachary's love for singing, and they would often improvise musical numbers together.

Zachary and his family are very close. His mother accepts him openly and honestly, whether it be his musical ambitions or his eccentric lifestyle. "He puts it out there for everyone to see and is fine with anyone's reaction," she said publicly.

Recently, Zachary participated in the American Idol Season 5 competition. The audition, taking place in his hometown of Denver, was televised on January 18, 2006. The episode featured a segment devoted to Zachary, including a prelude intended to spotlight, and likely draw to question, Zachary's ambiguous gender.

While, all three judges had concluded that Zachary's singing voice was simply inadequate, a greater public controversy ensued in response to his ambiguous gender. Zachary soon became the new American spectacle, generating not only sensational media scrutiny but also a shockwave of antipathy and opposition toward the genderqueer lifestyle itself throughout the Internet community. This led to a formal response from GLAAD (the media watchdog group for homosexual, bisexual, and transgender affairs) seeking FOX to atone for their overtly untactful programming.

In response to growing online circulation of misinformation, hostility, and "hate-speech" surrounding Zachary Travis and his lifestyle, an independently operated Website, ZachIdol.com, went public on January 30, 2006. The mission of ZachIdol would be to provide a fair and unprejudiced representation of Zachary together with his community of supporters and admirers.

What is the future for Zachary Travis's musical career? Only time will tell. Zachary is an outgoing and confident individual. We can only hope that he will hold steadfast and continue to pursue his musical ambitions whatever they may be and wherever they may take him.