{"id":8916,"date":"2026-09-11T11:09:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8916"},"modified":"2026-09-11T11:09:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:09:55","slug":"dolly-parton-paid-for-her-longtime-drivers-gender-affirming-care-she-was-a-very-nice-lady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/dolly-parton-paid-for-her-longtime-drivers-gender-affirming-care-she-was-a-very-nice-lady\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton paid for her longtime driver’s gender-affirming care: She was ‘a very nice lady’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If people need another reason to understand why Dolly Parton was so beloved in American culture, the entertainer, who died Aug. 25 at age 80, was known for being genuinely kind and generous to the people who worked for her.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: Newsom should sign legislation bolstering newsrooms \u2014 and democracy<\/a><\/p>\n

That includes her longtime driver and assistant, Jason Pirro, with news surfacing this week that the country star, philanthropist and LGBTQ+ icon paid for his gender-affirming care in the 1990s, LGBTQ Nation reported.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Dolly Parton kept cancer private to protect loved ones, fans: sister<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pirro was a well-known figure in Parton\u2019s entourage \u2014 the heavyset chauffeur in a tuxedo who also became her \u201cgood friend,\u201d trusted adviser and favorite wardrobe consultant, LGBTQ Nation reported. Over the 40 or so years that Pirro worked for Parton, he expressed appreciation for his boss\u2019s support, including when a tabloid outed him as transgender man in a 1990 cover story.<\/p>\n

As revealed by the editor of Parton\u2019s 1994 autobiography, the Grammy winner\u2019s support of Pirro extended to\u00a0 paying for his gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was rightly known for her humanity and decency, and when a member of her team was transitioning \u2014 this was in the \u201990s \u2014 she paid for their care,\u201d Elissa Altman, Parton\u2019s editor at HarperCollins, wrote on Instagram following news of Parton\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a profoundly good and kind person; it wasn\u2019t an act,\u201d Altman said.<\/p>\n

Pirro said as much about his boss back when Star magazine approached him about a planned cover story, which tried to sensationalize his transgender journey and his relationship with Parton. He told Star, \u201cI\u2019m not real comfortable talking about myself. Dolly knows all about me and is a very nice lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Star story may or may not be the source of a memorable line from the singer, affirming her allyship with the LGBTQ+ community, LGBTQ Nation reported.<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes September 11, 2026: Harry Connick Jr., pitch in and help<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were a man, I\u2019d be a drag queen,\u201d the Star story quoted Parton as saying. \u201cI enjoy being a trashy dresser and I love gaudy things. I love to play with hair and makeup.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the most part, Pirro and Parton kept their friendship out of the spotlight, but his name surfaced a few times, according to LGBTQ Nation. Parton\u00a0thanked him in the liner notes for her 2016 album \u201cPure & Simple\u201d for his \u201ctime, love, and attention to details.\u201d He also contributed to her 2023 fashion memoir, \u201cBehind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones.\u201d\u00a0 In a Sept. 1 Facebook post, Gay Star News praised Parton for standing by Pirro, saying, \u201cNo headlines, no press tour \u2014 just three decades of loyalty. That was Dolly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The year Parton published \u201cMy Life in Rhinestones,\u201d she also voiced support for the transgender community, shortly after her home state of Tennessee passed a bill that allowed for discrimination against trans people. In an interview The Hollywood Reporter, she said about the bill: \u201cWell, what I always say, \u2018I just want everybody to be treated good.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it,\u201d she continued. \u201cI have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I\u2019ve got transgender people. I\u2019ve got gays. I\u2019ve got lesbians. I\u2019ve got drunks. I\u2019ve got drug addicts \u2014 all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s something to be judged, that is God\u2019s business,\u201d she also said. \u201cBut we are all God\u2019s children and how we are is who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: Why won\u2019t she give me the heirlooms? She\u2019s not even part of our family.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parton’s support of the LGBTQ community and her kindness to people who worked for her ‘wasn’t an act,’ the editor of her 1994 memoir said after her death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nDolly Parton paid for her longtime driver’s gender-affirming care: She was ‘a very nice lady’ - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/dolly-parton-paid-for-her-longtime-drivers-gender-affirming-care-she-was-a-very-nice-lady\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dolly Parton paid for her longtime driver’s gender-affirming care: She was ‘a very nice lady’ - 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