PROJECT JUPITER

In February 2026, Aeris Houlihan created Jupiter: a trans woman dating a Premier League footballer. Jupiter had a face people wanted to look at, a voice they wanted to believe, and a love story with one thing missing: no name, no club, no team. In fourteen days she reached millions. What came back wasn't curiosity. It was contempt, and one verdict, again and again: love her, and your career is finished.

PROJECT JUPITER follows that hate off the pitch and into everyday life: the bathroom, the wardrobe, who you're allowed to hold hands with in public. Trans contributors Kim, Mia and Tommy speak about the gap between surviving and living, and about refusing to shrink.

For Aeris, it is personal. In 2013 her club said yes, her doctor said yes, and the Football Association said no. The national papers told her story, and a year later the FA opened the door. On 1 June 2025 it shut again. This time she didn't ask for permission. She built a mirror.

“I invented her. I never invented the hate.”

Reach is each platform's own figure added together, not a count of unique viewers. The share of transphobic replies is Aeris's own reading of them. Full figures in the Project Jupiter case study (WOTE on Substack, 16 February 2026).

> THE METHOD: TACTICAL AMBIGUITY

One video introduced Jupiter as a trans woman dating an unnamed Premier League footballer. Aeris never confirmed a player, a club or a team. When followers guessed names, she replied only “interesting theory” or “I can neither confirm nor deny”. Every guess and every comment came from the audience's own assumptions.

The reveal landed during LGBT+ History Month and Football v Homophobia's Month of Action, while the Premier League was promoting inclusion.

> THE VERDICT

Nobody said the footballer would be teased. They said he would be finished. Not damaged. Finished. Loving a trans woman wasn't seen as a scandal. It was seen as a career-ending offence.

• “His career is over when this comes out.”
• “He will get so much stick from rival fans.”

Real comments, shown on screen in the film.

• “Jupiter was fictional. The footballer was fictional. The reaction was not.”> AERIS HOULIHAN
• “My club said yes. My doctor said yes. The FA said no.”> AERIS HOULIHAN
• “When I said that Jupiter was dating a footballer, nobody asked if he was in love with her.”> AERIS HOULIHAN
• “None of this stayed on the pitch. It became the air.”> AERIS HOULIHAN
• “The difference between surviving as a trans woman and living as a trans woman is to live, you would have some level of autonomy and be able to make your own choices.”> KIM
• “Keep being yourself, defiantly being yourself, no matter what, because when you get to be yourself, it's like you can breathe.”> TOMMY

Aeris Houlihan is a trans woman, musician and activist from Yorkshire, now based in Hull, who records and performs as Witch of the East. She has been fighting the same fight for over a decade, and she is not done.

In 2013 her club said yes and her doctor said yes, but the Football Association said she could not play for her local women's team. She took the fight public, made the national papers and international headlines including Channel 4 News, and a year later the FA opened the door. A large photo of her and a plaque were displayed at the National Football Museum in Manchester for around a year.

PROJECT JUPITER returns to that fight after the FA barred trans women from women's football from 1 June 2025. It is her first documentary film.

PROJECT JUPITER is complete and available for its world premiere. It has not yet been screened publicly.

For festivals, programmers and press: the electronic press kit, a private screener of the full film, stills, press photos and interviews with Aeris Houlihan are available on request.

Or email contact@aerishoulihan.com

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