Ava Zinn

Ava Zinn
Ava Zinn in Muncie, in 2014
Born	Frank Zinn January 4, 1983 (1983-01-04) LaGrange, Illinois
Residence	Fort Wayne, IN (5/14/2018-present) Marion, IN (10/16/1996-5/14/2018) Van Buren, (11/1/1985-10/15/1996) Gas City/Mill Township, (1983-85)
Other names	Aeverine Zinn (occasionally, legal maiden name 2005-present) Ava Nieves (2007-2011) Aeverine Nieves (2005-present, legal purposes) Franky Zinn (1983-1999)
Education	Mississinewa High School
Occupation	Journalist News anchor YouTube presenter
Years active	1989–present
Employer	Aeverine Zinn Holdings (1999-present) Carey Services (2009-2013) ATE Media Corporation (1990-1998) NoSirGifts Venues (1987-2018)
Known for	Vote for the Girls (US and UK)
Notable credit(s)	Judging Vote for the Girls USA (2010–) Vote for the Girls UK (2013-15) Vote for the Girls Australia (2015) Producing INNewsCenter.net (1999-2011; 2014–) INNCD 47 Action News (1999-2008) Vote for the Girls franchise (2010–)
Influenced by	Peter Jennings Patrice Rafferty Morton Downey, Jr. Bob Knight Bridget Fonda
Influenced	Thia Tola Rachael Passalt
Home town	Van Buren, Indiana
Television	WMRI-FTV (NBC) (1990-1998) WXXC (Ind.) (1999-2009)
Spouse	Angela Willis (m. 2001; wid. 2010)
Partner	Amanda Davidson (1993-97 and 2012-13) Elisa Everman (1997-2000 and 2018-2018) Kymberly Alvaraz (2014-17)
Children	15 (6 living) With Davidson: 6 (1 living, 1 adopted): Samantha Zinn Kalvin Zinn* With Everman: 2 (1 living) Tiffani Zinn With Willis: 4 (0 living, 1 adopted) Ashli Zinn* Tabitha Zinn With Alvaraz: 3 (0 living) Kenneth *Adopted after spouse's death
Parents	Margaret Zinn (1943-2002) (mother) Willis Zinn (1925-1984) (father)
Relatives	Albert Zinn (1977-2002) (brother) Sheena Jay (niece-in-law)
Website
AvaZinn.com

Aeverine Frathleen Nieves, (born Frank Zinn January 4, 1983) better known as Ava Zinn, is an American transwoman. Zinn is known for presenting YouTube clips about promoting votes for contestants on reality-based television programs, such as Vote for the Girls. She has trained hosts, news anchors, and notable individuals such as Stephani Alvaraz, Kathi Jameson, Khayla Chow, Rachael Passalt, Melody Shields, Elizabeth Rock, Audra Hensen, Genevieve Shields, Ariana Imperial, Paige Lank, Lauren Rhodes, Ariel Swaringen, Michelle Steele, Nermal Everman, Tracia Ward, and three of her own four daughters: Samantha, Tiffani, and Tabitha. Zinn is also best known for successfully auctioning off her virginity for a long term relationship to fellow Vote for the Girls USA moderator and girlfriend Kymberly Alvaraz, that was revealed in her criminal trial after fatally shooting former Vote for the Girls UK moderator Khayla Chow on October 21, 2014.

Early life

Ava Zinn was born Frank Zinn on January, 4, 1983 in LaGrange, Illinois to Willis and Margaret Zinn and raised in Van Buren, from the age of 2 until relocating to Marion, in October 1996. Zinn was the youngest of two children, and raised in the Landess neighburhood of Van Buren. She had an older brother, Albert (1977-2002). When Ava was fifteen months old, her father died from pneumonia. She sang in the choir of Northview Elementary School, and graduated from Mississinewa High School in 2001. She is the niece of former Columbia City mayor Joseph Zickgraf (as such, Zinn's fellow Vote for the Girls USA Purple Team North teammate Donna Doogan is the niece of former Columbus mayor Greg Lashutka.).

She continued on to college at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) and was dis-enrolled for unable to adapt to the college life. After her dis-enrollment, Zinn has described her early adult life as "hopelessly itinerant", as her family moved constantly due to the aspirations and failures of her mother, who was violent at times until her mother's death in May 2002 and brother's suicide in August 2002. Zinn has described her mother as a diabetic and brother as an epileptic.

Career

In the early 1990's, she worked in a series of media giants until being inspired to work for the temperamental Patrice Rafferty at ATE Media.

After working at ATE Media for nine years, Zinn, tired of "the rages and the bullying and violence", decided that the way to further advance her career was to study webmastering. (While at ATE Media, she met Holly Everman, now her Vote for the Girls co-host and long-time closest friend since 1990.) From there, Zinn moved from ATE Media to NoSirGifts, which was founded by her mother in 1987, to work with Jackson Steele and Bob Imperial, both news anchormen. At one time, Ava Zinn states that Jackson Steele was her mentor. She continued her training at NoSirGifts for tweleve years, before giving in to the physical and mental stress of the television news industry and taking five years to work as a retail production associate.

News Anchor

Zinn first came to prominence in 1999 while serving as news director at WRDS-FLP (channel 47, now WXXC) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. WRDS station owner Rachel Dean, Sr. founded the station while at the same time Zinn launched INNewsCenter. Dean invested heavily in pouring most of the station's resources into its news department. With Dean's backing, Zinn adopted the "News Directors and Producers Have a Choice, Viewers Don't" format heavy on two-woman anchor teams. Zinn was often criticized for an emphasis on all-female news teams, as it was often overlooked that diversity was a major concern for the people of Fort Wayne at the time. However, the "INNCD 47 News" format revived a station that had low ratings prior to its merger with WTOR (channel 41). It also heavily influenced what other NoSirGifts stations' newscasts would look like for many years to come.

At WXXC, Zinn co-anchored with Justin Planck on RAT TV in 2001 and was best known for creating LGBT news formats which pair a news anchorwoman and a transgendered anchorwoman or two anchorwomen presenting newscasts to make news more attractive for LGBT audiences.

On February 5, 2007, Zinn revived her news anchoring career anchoring INNCD News at 10 (now INNCD 47 Action News at 10:00 and produced with WTOR). Zinn, as a transgender woman, did what other transgender women almost never did at that time. Fellow transgender anchorwomen Julia Passalt from Minneapolis and Denver, Fiona Johnson from San Fransisco, Kendra Ray from Des Moines would all do the same in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

In 2008, NoSirGifts acquired stations owned by Imperial Broadcasting (longtime owner of WTOR, Lafayette Fox affiliate WLIN-FTV, now-CBS affiliate WIFX-FTV Indianapolis, and NBC affiliate WVTH Vincennes), NT Communications (owner of now-ABC affiliate WXWI Milwaukee), and DakMedia (owner of Fox affiliate KDNC Denver). Like WXXC, WLIN, WIFX, WVTH, WXWI, and KDNC had long been in third place in the local news ratings. Zinn implemented changes with the hope of turning the stations around. By this time, Zinn's reputation in television news was such that many of the station's veteran reporters in Inddianapolis and Milwaukee resigned. Zinn relaunched stations with a considerably watered-down version of the WXXC format, which was still shocking by Indianapolis and Milwaukee standards. Nonetheless, it led to a ratings boost, especially after WIFX and WXWI respectively switched affiliations from Fox to CBS in 2009 and Fox to ABC in 2012. WXWI soon rose to second place in the Milwaukee ratings while WIFX soon rose to first in Indianapolis and in Fort Wayne, WTOR overtook long-dominant WMRI in key time slots in the last decade.

Webmaster

Zinn (then as Frank) in 2000 after launching INNewsCenter and AvaZinn.com

Zinn's largest effect on American culture came from her popular web sites INNewsCenter and Vote for the Girls. Shortly thereafter, Patrice Rafferty re-entered her life, offering to set her up with a webmaster position and 10% share in ATE Media. The show was named Wheel of Fortune. Despite the show's success, a dispute with Zinn's business owners and Zinn's dream of running her own web site led to her leaving the partnership in 1998.

From her first website, Zinn's empire has expanded rapidly, next launching INNewsCenter in 1999, then the RAT TV page on the Mississinewa High School web site, ATE Media, NoSirGifts (which she inherited five years after her mother's death and was later forced to close), and later the original American version of Vote for the Girls. Zinn has launched web sites outside the United States, beginning with the British version of Zinn's popular Vote for the Girls in 2013, despite mixed reviews from professional critics.

INNewsCenter

Original site (1999-2011)

At age 16 in November 1999, Ava Zinn had launched two web sites--her web site (currently known as AvaZinn.com) and INNewsCenter, a site devoted to discussing the television industry in Indiana's 10 markets (initially Fort Wayne and Indianapolis) that serve all of 's 92 counties. Both were launched on November 1, 1999 while Zinn was a junior at Mississinewa High School in Gas City, Indiana. The site covered the changes in the ten media markets that serve the state (originally the Indianapolis and Fort Wayne markets until 2004).

The INNewsCenter site closed on June 30, 2011. The final story posted on the site was Fox's announcement on June 20, 2011 that it would end its affiliation with WFFT and its Fort Wayne affiliation moved to MyNetworkTV affiliate WISE-DT2 on August 1. Nexstar had earlier lost the Fox affiliation for WTVW in Evansville following a dispute with the network over retransmission consent that it wanted its stations to pay to the network.

Revival site (2014-)

On June 26, 2014, Zinn announced that she would bring INNewsCenter back online.

The revived INNewsCenter debuted on December 28, 2014. Sites that also carried the original site, such as Florida News Center, have picked up the revived site as well. Unlike the previous adaptation of the site, the 2014 version is relegated to a section of Zinn's AvaZinn.com web site. As with the original adaptation, the site still discusses the television industry in the state's 10 markets and five significantly viewed markets that serve all 92 counties. The first story posted on the site was the third Indianapolis affiliation switch in over 35 years as WISH (channel 8) and WTTV (channel 4) swapped affiliations, with WISH-TV becoming a CW affiliate and WTTV becoming a CBS affiliate, after Tribune Broadcasting announced on August 11, 2014 that WTTV would become the market's CBS affiliate through a deal that renewed affiliations on the company's five existing CBS stations; the WTTV deal was spurred by a dispute between station management at WISH-TV and the network during affiliation renewal negotiations over reverse compensation demands. WTTV originally planned to move its CW affiliation to a digital subchannel upon the January 1, 2015 switch until Tribune decided to sell The CW's Indianapolis affiliation rights to WISH owner Media General (which had completed its merger with that station's former owner LIN Media three days earlier) on December 22, 2014, with WTTV operating its subchannel as an independent station instead. The switch was an upgrade for The CW, due to WISH's prior history as a major network station and the fact it had a news department; it was also an upgrade at least for WTTV even if it was arguably one for CBS, as the station had not been a major network affiliate since losing the ABC affiliation to WLWI (channel 13, now NBC affiliate WTHR. It is interesting to note that thirty-five and a half years earlier on June 1, 1979 WTHR and WRTV (channel 6) swapped affiliations with WRTV taking WTHR's outgoing ABC affiliation) in 1957, had not maintained a news department since 1990 or aired any newscasts of its own since 2002 (the newscasts Tribune re-established for WTTV upon the switch use resources from Fox affiliate WXIN (channel 59)'s existing news department, but compete against and maintain anchor teams largely separate from its sister station). In fact, the major impetus of the deal was that it allowed WTTV to become the local broadcaster of the Indianapolis Colts through CBS' rights to the AFC.

In another notable difference from the previous site, the site will often feature clips of stories from the American adaptation of Vote for the Girls when a female contestant appears on a reality based singing competition (notable examples are Alisha Bernhardt and Marrielle Sellars of American Idol 11 and 13, respectively, Valerie Rockey of So You Think You Can Dance 11, Addison Agen and Christiana Danielle of The Voice 13 and 14, respectively) and local (Marion and Fort Wayne) stories appearing on AvaZinn.com (a notable example is the death of Ashley Rheam in 2013).

Another difference from the previous site is the absence of the INNewsCenter Weather Wall, a feature that has since moved to AvaZinn.com.

Queen of the Willis (2006-12 and 2019-present)

Although Zinn enjoyed her career as a webmaster and journalist, she felt her real calling was for the small screen and animation, which would allow a much edgier style of humor. She first pitched Queen of the Willis to ABC Fantasy TV Stations, CBS Fantasy Televsion, NBC Owned Fantasy TV Stations, and DakMedia. ATE Media offered the then young writer a strange deal: Patrice Rafferty gave her a budget of US$5,000 to produce a pilot that could lead to a series (most episodes of animated prime-time productions cost at least US$1-2 million). Zinn recalled the experience in an intervie, Zinn stated, "I spent about four years with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot".

In 2002, Zinn returned to ATE Media with a "very, very simply, crudely animated film – with just enough to get the tone of the show across" to present to the executives, who loved the pilot and ordered the series immediately. In Feburary 2006, ATE Media Corporation announced the purchase of Queen of the Willis for a August 2006 debut. At age 24, Zinn (tying with Family Guy crator Seth MacFarlane in 1997) television's youngest executive producer.

Queen of the Willis first aired August 12, 2006. Zinn's work in animating Queen of the Willis has been influenced by Jack Klugman along with examples from King of the Hill, Family Guy and Growing Pains. In addition to writing various episodes, including "Pilot", "Ten Years to Life" and "The Rape of Heather Willis", Zinn voices Queen of the Willis's main transgendered female characters – Ava Willis, Tabby Willis, Zach Mullins, Addison Ellissong, Michelle Wilson – as well as male characters Ron Willis, Dr. Mario Coxson, Zach Mullins, Robert "Crob Bob" Craven and Mullins' grandson Caleb Mullins – and female characters Shushu Willis, Heather Willis, Anna Pamhouser, Angelika Mullins, Amanda Dawson, and Elisa Donovan and additional characters.

Despite its popularity, Queen of the Willis has often been criticized. The Parents Television Council frequently criticizes the show for its content, once organized a letter-writing campaign aimed at removing it from a network's lineup (although it airs in syndication), and has filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission alleging that some episodes of the show contained indecent content. Zinn has responded to the criticism by saying, among other things, "I've been used to getting a butt load of hate mail and these terrible human beings act like Commies or Nazis."

Queen of the Willis has been cancelled twice, although strong fan support and YouTube views have caused CBS Television Distribution to reconsider. Zinn mentioned how these cancellations affected the lineup of writers each time. "One of the positive aspects of Queen of the Willis constantly being pulled off [the air] is that we were always having to restaff writers and recasting". In Fort Wayne, the show has moved from then-ATE Media owned ABC affiliate WMRI (now an ABC O&O) to NoSirGifts-owned CBS affiliate/independent station (and flagship) duopoly WTOR/WXXC-FDT in 2007 where it aired since while in Indianapolis, the show has moved from WHOO-FTV to WIFX-FTV in 2007 where it aired from 2007 to 2018 before moving to United Broadcasting owned CW affiliate WEVI.

Hoosier Anchorwoman!

Zinn has a third running, successful adult animated series in Hoosier Anchorwoman! which was in production from 2009 to 2013. To date along with Amanda & Elisa, Hoosier Anchorwoman! are Zinn's animated series to have suffered an official cancellation.

Hoosier Anchorwoman! was first shown in April 2009, three months after the the Indianapolis Colts' loss to the Saints debuting with the episode "Pilot", which Zinn co-wrote. Zinn has described the initial seasons of Hoosier Anchorwoman! as being INNewsCenter, likening title character Kendra Kendall's originally bigoted persona after a sex change. Zinn has also stated that her inspiration to create Hoosier Anchorwoman! derived from her experience of never seeing to anchormen anchor a newscast after the main female anchor takes the day off for any reason from 1987 until 2009, yet does not mind watching two anchorwomen on a tellevision news broadcast. Zinn was described as having difficulty understanding the series in its early going; however, she heavily warmed up to the series after its early seasons once he felt the show truly came into its own. Her fellow co-creators have sensed this through Zinn's greatly increased attention to the series after its early seasons. Zinn has also revealed she is a Hoosier Anchorwoman! fan herself. She has taken note of the positive reaction to the "Joyce" character by fans via her Twitter.

The show focuses on the Kendall family: Kendra Kendall, the endangering, dog-eat-dog, rash and inconsiderate head of the household. She has an exaggeratedly large chin and feminine manner about her. As the family's breadwinner, she works as a news anchor/reporter and was initially portrayed in the series as an old-fashioned conservative bigot but has since grown out of these traits ; Kendra's paradoxically moralistic yet simultaneously inappropriate, corrupt wife, Miles; and their three children, new-age hippie daughter Samantha, daughter Allison and nerdy daughter Jackie. Accompanying the Kendall family are three additional main characters, two of which belong to non-human species: zany, shocking, blithely cruel and rascally cow Joyce, who's full of disguises/alter egos and has few if any limits on her behaviors. She was rescued by Kendra from a slaughterhouse; Kayla, the woman-in-a-snake-body pet. Kayla's unenviable situation came about from the brain of an Russian Olympic gymnist being shrunk and transplanted into a snake body; and Alec Dailey, Samantha's boyfriend turned "whipped" husband, known for his homosexual infatuation with Samantha's mom, Miles.

The series ended on May 19, 2013, with a total of 4 seasons and 88 episodes, and the character of Kendra moved to Queen of the Willis in the episode The Girls Are Back in Quillsville.

Vote for the Girls

See also: Vote for the Girls, Vote for the Girls (United States), Vote for the Girls (United Kingdom), Vote for the Girls (Australia), and Vote for the Girls: Junior Edition

Ava Zinn has presented the American, British, and Australian versions of Vote for the Girls since their launches

In 2010, with Holly Everman, Robyn Hurd, and villain Archibald Coolranch, Zinn was a moderator and host on the first season of the American web site Vote for the Girls, which she created using her production company, Aeverine Zinn Holdings. Vote for the Girls was a surprise hit and success with the public and enjoyed its sixth season in 2014. With the retirement of Archibald Coolranch in 2017 and the deaths of Robyn Hurd in 2012 and Holly Everman in 2017, Zinn is currently the only remaining original moderator of the American version while the British and Australian versions have since had production ended.

Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina, two female contestants on the tenth season of American Idol were prominently featured on the site after the elimination of Pia Toscano. Zinn returned for a third season alongside Everman and Hurd, as well as auditioning for the 11th season of American Idol herself and exposing the previous season's gender bias, the site gained popularity and overtook Vote for the Worst. After launching Vote for the Girls (which was launched to compete with VFTW), in response Zinn stated "It's becoming clear that people want a change that we all believe in. It's only about what you're doing and supposed to do, and I l like I'm supposed to be doing this." The site's YouTube videos featured screaming matches among Zinn, her guests, and audience members. Using a large black bowl for an ashtray, she would chainsmoke during the video and blow smoke in her guests' faces. Zinn's fans became known as "Lesbian Dozers," patterned after the studio lecterns decorated with gaping cartoon lips, from which Zinn's guests would go head-to-head against each other on their respective issues.

Zinn's signature phrases "WGWG Commies" (in reference to white guys with guitars and communism) and "shush it!" briefly enjoyed some popularity in the contemporary vernacular. She particularly enjoyed making her guests angry with each other, which on a few occasions resulted in physical confrontations.

Because of the controversial format and content of the show, Zinn had problems selling the show to a number of advertisers. Even Zinn's subscribers were so fearful of advertiser and viewer backlash that they would air one or even two local disclaimers during the videos.

Zinn returned for the fourth season in 2012, with Everman, and two new moderators Hillary Matthewson and Michelle Steele, as Hurd passed away after the site's third season ended. Zinn only appeared in the latter part of the American Idol 12 competition, as she was launching Vote for the Girls in Great Britain.

Zinn also launched Vote for the Girls UK in June 2013. It was announced that she would be a moderator and host both on the UK and U.S. editions of the site, which air at similar times of the year. She was joined by Ariel Swaringen, Kathi Jameson, and Khayla Chow. Zinn's pick of Leah McFall of The Voice finished runner-up of The Voice UK 2 as Andrea Begley won that series, and Zinn's pick of Samantha Bailey won The X Factor 10, making Zinn not only the winning moderator, but both victories for the site. Zinn returned for a second series of Vote for the Girls in September 2014 with Swaringen, Jameson, and Chow not returning and were replaced by Tracia Ward, Nermal Everman, Rhonda Rhodes and Kendra Ray. Zinn's pick of Caroline Flack on Strictly Come Dancing won that series, marking Zinn's second series as the winning moderator after she won with Samantha Bailey in 2013.

Vote for the Girls Australia and Vote for the Girls: Junior Edition both launched in 2015. It was announced and confirmed that she would be a moderator and host on the Australian, UK, and U.S. editions of the site, which air at similar times of the year. However, Zinn currently does not appear on Vote for the Girls: Junior Edition due to concerns that Ava Zinn's style of cursing of the supported contestants on Vote for the Girls USA would carry over to Vote for the Girls: Junior Edition. Karly Jameson said that Zinn had only cursed seven times during the production of the episode and never at anyone younger than 18. In the final editing of the pilot, Zinn cursed three times off stage and once in front of (but not at) the supported contestants.

Zinn returned for her ninth consecuitive season in 2017 and did not appear in as much of the season, as she was launching Vape Back!, Retail Nightmarees and Housing Hell though her final two picks for The Voice 13 were runner-up Addison Agen and winner Chloe Kohanski. Zinn returned for a tenth consecuitive season in 2018 and did not appear in as much due to her relaunching Queen of the Willis and her move to Fort Wayne.

Celebrity

The success of Vote for the Girls and INNewsCenter made Zinn a local and later Hoosier pop culture celebrity, leading to become one of the popular transgendered women in . This led to speculation that she could run for political office (such as Mayor of Marion, Indiana) and become the first openly transgender woman in to be elected to office as well as becoming the first female mayor of Marion, Indiana. However, in 2007, Zinn decided that she has no plans to run for office. It should be noted, however, Zinn has been far more successful as a woman than she ever was as a male, as she has interests in media, real estate, education, and retailing thus it is highly unlikely that she is actively looking to run for political office.

Record as moderator on Vote for the Girls USA

Zinn has been a moderator on Vote for the Girls since its inception in 2010, and has won 16 times – more than any other moderator since Cassadee Pope's victory on the third season of The Voice and surpassing Archibald Coolranch on December 18, 2012. Seven of the victories were with Kymberly Alvaraz.

Rows in bold indicate a Double Moderator Victory (male and female)
Rows in bold and gold indicate a Double Moderator Victory with two females
Rows in bold and silver indicate a victory with two females with a specified moderator
Rows in bronze indicate supported contestant's loss was declined (via Moderators' Save)
Row indicate male victory
Row indicates female victory

Season			Show	Supported Contestant(s)	Result	Notes
		Date

Record as moderator on Vote for the Girls UK

Zinn appeared as a moderator on the British adaptation of Vote for the Girls from 2013 until 2015, and won six times (including one Double Victory and two Moderators' Saves) – more than any other moderator.

Season		Show	Moderator finalist(s)	Result	Other Supported contestants	Notes
1	June 22, 2013 (2013-06-22)	The Voice UK 2	Leah McFall	Runner-Up	Sarah Cassidy Alys Williams
1	December 15, 2013 (2013-12-15)	The X Factor UK 10	Samantha Bailey	Winner
1	April 5, 2014 (2014-04-05)	The Voice UK 3	Christina Marie	Runner-Up	Rachael O'Connor
2	December 14, 2014 (2014-12-14)	The X Factor UK 11	Fleur East	Runner-up	Lola Saunders
2	December 20, 2014 (2014-12-20)	Strictly Come Dancing 12	Caroline Flack Frankie Bridge	Winner Runner-Up	Mark Wright (4th Place)
2	April 4, 2015 (2015-04-04)	The Voice UK 4	Lucy O'Byrne	Runner-Up
3	December 13, 2015 (2015-12-13)	The X Factor UK 12	Louisa Johnson	Winner	Che Chesterman (3rd Place)
3	December 19, 2015 (2015-12-19)	Strictly Come Dancing 13	Kellie Bright (Female Victory)	Runner-Up

Awards

Launched in 1999, AvaZinn.com (then known as FrankyZinn.com) was Zinn’s first solo website, hosted on Geocities. In 2002, it was voted Top Web site in the State of in the Northeast Indiana region. In 2014, the Chronicle-Tribune claimed that Zinn spent more time on YouTube and webmastering than in her home but she still maintained the highest standards.

Zinn's flagship web site, AvaZinn.com, was voted one of Indiana's top sites for five years, but in 2006 was placed below INNewsCenter, another site Zinn owns and operates.

Aeverine Zinn Holdings

All of Zinn's business interests (web sites, media, consultancy) are held in the company Aeverine Zinn Holdings LLC, which was run in a sole proprietorship by Zinn herself. Zinn owns a 70% stake, with ATE Media and NoSirGifts Venues owns 5% each.

Whereas previous ventures acted as a combined consultant/brand, in May 2013 Zinn announced plans to purchase outright the Vote for the Worst upon the site's closure which would have redirected to Zinn's Vote for the Girls site and eliminate the competition.

United States

Internet Venture	Location	Date opened	Date closed
AvaZinn.com	Marion, Indiana	November 1, 1999	-
INNewsCenter	Gas City, Indiana	November 1, 1999	June 30, 2011
	Marion, Indiana	December 2014 (Revival)	-
Vote for the Girls USA	Fort Wayne, Indiana	April 28, 2010	-

International

Internet Venture	Location	Date opened	Date closed
Vote for the Girls UK	Fort Wayne, Indiana	June 1, 2013	December 2015 (Left AZH)
Vote for the Girls Australia	Fort Wayne, Indiana	June 1, 2015	November 2015 (Left AZH)

Public image and reception

Personality

Zinn's music and image reputation is built upon her goal of media perfection. Since Zinn's development of long-running site INNewsCenter.net and later Vote for the Girls, the webmaster has also become infamous for her fiery temper and use of expletives. Zinn once famously ejected polis news anchorman Scott Swan, from her web site, leading Swan to state that "Zinn is a wonderful webmaster, just a really second-rate human being." Zinn has also had confrontations with her fans, including one incident that resulted in a neighbour calling the police. A 2012 interview reported Zinn had retained 85% of her staff since 1999. Zinn attributes her pugnacious management style to the influence of previous mentors, notably entrepreneur Patrice Rafferty, and cousin Patricia Purvis.

Zinn's ferocious temper has contributed to her media appeal in both the United States and the United Kingdom, where her programs are produced. One source featured an article about America's worst LGBT individuals, which listed Zinn as the only transgender woman. They cited her frequent loss of her temper, her harsh critiques, notably when she picks on something other than one's singing abilities, such as calling someone a "jumbo bimbo." She maintains that such behavior and sexism within the voting period is necessary and demonstrates passion.

Zinn has been criticized for her frequent use of profanity on YouTube, first by fans of Vote for the Worst then, in relation to Vote for the Girls UK, by annoyed fans of The X Factor. In her autobiography, Zinn herself said he was unaware of the extent of her swearing and bias against male contestants until she watched an episode of American Idol. While she stated he did not have a problem with it and bias against male contestants, "Mum would be turning in her grave right now".

Zinn began ending some episodes (later every episode) of Vote for the Girls USA and Vote for the Girls UK with her phrase "help control your child's education, have them immunized" along with the web site's phrase: "... and keep voting for the ladies." Beginning with the pilot of Retail Nightmares episode, Zinn began ending every episode of all her programs with her aforementioned phrase and added these words: "...and may Fort Wayne's Good News Be Yours."

Despite being known for her ferocious temper, Zinn has been well-received as the host of Vote for the Girls: Junior Edition; in contrast to her interaction with adults, Zinn was shown to be more considerate and sensitive to the kids featured on the site's supported young contestants.

For most of her tenure as a biological male and heterosexual man, Zinn was one of the weaker males in terms of self-image and performance, usually ranking within the bottom ten percent of all males. However, since the gender transition to female and rise of same sex relationships in the state of Indiana, Zinn has been far more successful in her self-image, performance, and popularity.

Controversies

See also: 2014 Vote for the Girls conflict, Vote for the Girls (U.S.) controversies, and Criticism and controversies of Ava Zinn

Mississinewa 500 Prom Date Controversy (April 2001)

In 2000, at Mississinewa High School, Zinn (then known as Frank) used the phrase "Mississinewa 500" to describe the high school's prom. In August 2000, Zinn began her senior and final year at Mississinewa High School and recently broke up with then-girlfriend and mother of then-nine month old Tiffani (then known as Timothy), Elisa Everman, as she was attending what was then IPFW (now Purdue University Fort Wayne) and Zinn was unwilling to move to continue the relationship.

Zinn spent nearly her entire senior year searching for a prom date and eventually narrowing down to two women--Zinn's eventual wife Angie Willis and a sophomore by March 2001. Zinn's prom date search came to an end on April 16, 2001 when the sophomore and Zinn made a verbal agreement according to an investigation by Sheena Jay and the agreement had to be finalized by both Zinn's mother, Margaret Zinn, and the sophomore’s mother. Zinn had to lie about the sophomore's age because of did not have a Romeo & Juliet laws as well as a family rule prohibiting Zinn from dating a female younger than Zinn (this rule has since been repealed). Another likely factor was Angie's age, which most proms only allows individuals under 21 as Angie was 22 and Zinn was 18. This would play a key role to Zinn's dis-enrollment from Indiana Wesleyan University on September 27, 2001.

The sophomore student's name was initially released in 2001, but has since been banned from all Ava Zinn ventures. In August 2009, Sheena Jay, Zinn's niece-in-law, was hired to investigate and eventually concluded that two of Zinn's longtime friends, Veronica Schmerber and Sheena Fromholz, already knew about the plans for that Saturday night. Fromholz later claimed her plan was to go to Applebee’s in Marion instead of the Red Lobster restaurant in Muncie, where Fromholz and the sophomore student ended up for pre-prom plans.

Zinn's long-time close friends Veronica Schmerber and Telissa Hunt were officially identified as the prom date(s) of Ava Zinn on April 28, 2012, and the case was considered closed. Over the years, it was believed that Schmerber had spent more time than the sophomore student, but both times the sophomore student later recanted her admissions. In addition to the Mississinewa 500 fiasco, two other women (Marti Kincaid and Amber Dooley) claimed responsibility, but the cold case investigation determined that most of these from the sophomore student confessions were lies. An investigation revealed that the sophomore student did not fulfill the duties as a prom date. Following Sheena Jay's report, Zinn wasted little time to announce that she will invite Schmerber and Hunt to a future wedding of Zinn's (in the event should Zinn remarry), in addition to Alec Dailey and Justin Planck (both of them will be named "Co-Best Man").

The Mississinewa 500 would prove to be the last time Zinn ever wore a necktie and eventually sealed the fate of her life as a biological male.

Indiana Wesleyan University Dismissal (September 2001)

Five months after the Mississinewa 500 controversy, Angie, Ava's wife, took Ava to Indiana Wesleyan University on September 27, 20011. Angie said that she stopped to pick up a jar of Ragu Spagetti Sauce (for 88 cents each) and bananas (38 cents a pound) at the local Marsh and the CVS pharmacy next door to get a couple of two-liters of Coca-Cola, and then stopping at the Speedway station to get gas. It was later conjectured by Zinn's account there was a lot of construction, remodeling, and a commuter’s lounge at the college, and the suggestion of a food pantry that was unfamiliar to Zinn.

March 2015 VFTG USA tirade

Minutes after her Vote for the Girls USA pick of Sarina-Joi Cowe was eliminated on March 12, 2015, Zinn unleashed a torrent of expletives and threats designed to motivate her fellow purple team moderators. In one portion she exclaims she is "fucking tired of losing to the Pink Team [moderators of VFTG USA (Holly Everman, Kellie Rock, and Tracia Ward)]. "In another portion she exclaims she auctioned off her virginity to Kymberly Alvaraz (who had became Zinn's girlfriend since November 2014 and moved to the purple team) and said "there's no more Team Ava." Unknown to most, the cameras were still rolling and was included in the web site's sixth season finale. The speech has since been one of the most watched VFTG USA season finales on the web site's YouTube channel alone. Kendra Ray and Julia Pasalt were unable to remember the specific speech because such expletive-filled outbursts by Zinn are so frequent. Zinn and Alvaraz's pick of Nick Fradiani would go on to the American Idol 14 finale in which Fradiani became the winner of American Idol (as well as the web site's first male victory on Idol).

Relocation to Fort Wayne

In March 2015, Zinn appeared before the media and exclaimed, "This is my Goddamn site!" She reiterated that, despite problems, the rumors that she was moving were untrue at the time. With negotiations over finding a new college/university at an impasse, one of the chambers of Cornerstone Behavioral Health with the assistance of the Marion city council passed a rule on May 11, 2018, allowing Cornerstone to seize Zinn's assets under eminent domain, which Cornerstone officials had threatened to do. Zinn claimed Cornerstone promised her several guarantees, something they later denied, citing Zinn's poor performance and financial aspects. The next day, fearing a dawn raid and increased scrutiny on the Marion headquarters, Zinn accepted a deal offered by the city of Fort Wayne, Brendonwood Park, and the Fort Wayne Housing Authority.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
News
1990	Patrice	Herself	Credited as Franky Zinn
1990-1998	NewsCenter 36	News Presenter/Correspondent
1999-2007	INNCD (47) News	News Presenter/Correspondent
Entertainment
1990	Patrice	Herself
2004-09	Amanda and Elisa	Various Voices	Credited as Aeverine Zinn or Aeverine Nieves
2006-12; 2019-	Queen of the Willis
2009-12	Hoosier Anchorwoman!
2010–	Vote for the Girls (United States)	Host/Judge	Moderator on the purple team
2013-15	Vote for the Girls (United Kingdom)	Host/Judge	Moderator on the purple team
2015	Vote for the Girls (Australia)	Host/Judge	Moderator on the purple team
Web sites owned
1999-2011 2014-present	INNewsCenter	Creator/Founder/Webmaster
1999-present	AvaZinn.com	Creator/Webmaster	Flagship web site
2010-present	Vote for the Girls	Creator/Founder

Personal life

100px

Robyn Hurd (left) was Zinn's very first friend and were best friends from 1989 until Hurd's death in 2012 and Holly Everman (right) has been close friends since 1990 and was been best friends from 2012 to 2017. The close friendships lasted 23 years including Patrice and Vote for the Girls USA.

Gender transition and sexual orientation

At the age of 11, Zinn started to self-identify with the female gender. At 21 years old, she officially changed her name through the Grant County Circuit Court. She is yet to go through the process of changing her name and sex marker from male to female on all of her state and federal documents, including her birth certificate, driver's license, and social security index as of June 2014, as well as estrogen hormone treatment to transition to living life as a woman. As a result of her gender transition, Zinn became a lesbian as a sexual orientation.

Zinn is currently a pre-operative (pre-sex reassignment surgery) transsexual woman, coming out as transgender on November 1, 2003. She began her transition on December 1, 2004 when Zinn legally changed her name. She is Mississinewa High School's first transgender alumnus.

In 2005, Zinn began home electrolysis to remove facial hair.

At one time, Zinn announced she is considering a facelift, sometimes called "facial feminization surgery" and tracheal reshaping and grafting, and contouring of the face to effectuate a female appearance. Because she wants to have biological children and sterilization was not a requirement to undergo a valid sex change anywhere in the United States, she kept her external reproductive organs intact. Zinn has stated that this has kept her from estrogen hormone treatment to transition to living life as a woman. However, as of May 2015, Zinn has stated due to current significant other at the time, Kymberly Alvraz, approaching her 50's and having the early stages of menopause, it was likely that Zinn could obtain a surrogate mother using Zinn's sperm. Also, Zinn has stated that her sexual assault in April 2015 may be a blessing in disguise.

The gender transition provided a major windfall for Zinn since 2010 when she launched the Vote for the Girls franchise in the United States, and since 2014 a year after launched the Vote for the Girls franchise in the United Kingdom as she celebrated 10 Vote for the Girls victories (So You Think You Can Dance victories of Lauren Froderman, Melanie Moore, Eliana Girard, and Amy Yakima; The Voice victories of Cassadee Pope, Danielle Bradbery, and Tessanne Chin; American Idol victory of Nick Fradiani; The Voice Moderators Saves of Christina Grimmie and Meghan Linsey; American Idol Moderator Saves of Angie Miller and Jena Asciutto) in the United States and four United Kingdom victories (Strictly Come Dancing victories of Caroline Flack and Frankie Bridge; X Factor Moderator Save of Fleur East; and The Voice UK Moderator Save of Lucy O'Byrne) with her site and recently began to wear strapless tops and dresses with thong panties to strongly reflect her gender identity as a woman along with the punishment for failure with Christina Grimmie's third place finish on The Voice and Jena Irene's runner-up finish on American Idol. Owing to her family's status as a femininity hotbed and Zinn's 11 of her 13 closest friends are female (as of February 2012, Alec Dailey and Justin Planck are the only remaining male close friends of Zinn's) being longtime fixtures with Zinn, the social status of Zinn are consistently among the highest-rated during the seasons of The Voice and American Idol. Also due to the the popularity of former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning quarterback as well as 's status as a reality-based competition hotbed with fellow polis based contestants Alisha Bernhardt, Marrielle Sellars, and Valerie Rockey; Louisville natives Olivia Henken and Allison Bray; Chicago-based Haley Reinhart and Alice Lee; Detroit-based Amy Yakima, Jena Asciutto, RoxXy Montana, Malaya Watson; Ohio-based Alexis Gomez and Crystal Bowersox being supported contestants on the web site, Vote for the Girls is consistently among the highest-rated site in Indiana (as well as being the most viewed on the web site's YouTube channel) during the live shows of all competitions in both Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. In 2015, for instance, Vote for the Girls USA (along with some edited from the UK version) attracted a 21.6 rating and a 36 share, the highest viewership for the broadcasts in the United States.

Shortly before Kymberly Alvaraz began the long-term relationship with Ava Zinn, Zinn announced that Alvaraz would be joining Zinn as a duo moderator on the purple team from the pink team (where Alvaraz served as a solo moderator). This means both Zinn and Alvaraz will have at least one supported contestant on Dancing with the Stars, beginning in the spring of 2015, though former So You Think You Can Dance alums Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson and Allison Holker are mainstays in Dancing with the Stars will be supported by Alvaraz, owing to Arnold, Carson, and Holker being from Salt Lake City (an adjacent market to Alvaraz's home market of Denver) and the Rocky Mountain's status as a reality-based competition hotbed. Advertising within Studios 41 (where WTOR/WXXC's newscasts are produced) and 47 (where Vote for the Girls is taped) are also included in the deal. Additionally, both Zinn and Alvaraz will have whichever celebrity is paired with Derek Hough, with Littleton, Colorado native and R5 singer Riker Lynch (partnered with Allison Holker) as their final pick finishing overall runner-up in the 20th season and Bindi Irwin (partnered with Derek Hough) winning the 21st season. The only time Derek Hough, Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson, and/or Allison Holker were not be supported by Zinn and Alvaraz would be if both Hough and either Arnold, Carson or Holker are respectively the winner and runner-up, of which the following season of Dancing with the Stars would be chosen by Kylie and Ann Dwyar, Maribel Mort, or before their deaths, Holly Everman and Perri Johnson on the pink team, or chosen by Kathi and Karly Jameson or Rachael Passalt on the purple team. After Zinn and Alvaraz's relationship ended and since then, the only time Hough, Arnold, Carson, and/or Holker are not supported contestants by Zinn on DWTS would be chosen by fellow Purple Team moderators Kathi & Karly, Lanise & Danni or Pink Team moderators Nadine Cole, Kylie Dwyar, Maribel Mort, or Alexandra Moffitt.

With the respective deaths of Robyn Hurd on May 24, 2012 and Holly Everman on May 23, 2017 as well as the retirement of Archibald Coolranch, Ava Zinn is currently the only remaining original staff on the Vote for the Girls panel.

Family and relationships

Zinn has been romantically linked to various women during her career. As a result of Zinn's ongoing gender transition, she identifies her sexuality as a lesbian.

Length	Name	Child(ren)	Note
1993–1997 2012–2013	Socialite Amanda Davidson	Katie ((1988-02-09)February 9, 1988–c.November 11, 2013(2013-11-11) (aged 25))
		Deanna (born Dean) ((1990-07-13)July 13, 1990–May 20, 2014(2014-05-20) (aged 23))
		Coco ((1992-05-10)May 10, 1992–May 10, 2012(2012-05-10) (aged 20))
		Samantha (August 15, 1993 (1993-08-15))
		Thomas ((1997-09-29)September 29, 1997–November 29, 2006(2006-11-29) (aged 9))
		Kalvin (December 1, 2000 (2000-12-01))	On December 3, 2015, Ava Zinn filed to legally adopt Davidson's daughter, Kylee Donovan (now transgendered son Kalvin Zinn), from Davidson's previous marriages to Juan Donovan. The adoption was finalized on January 4, 2016 and Kylee's name was changed to Kylee Zinn upon the adoption being finalized. On June 1, 2018, Kalvin began undergoing his own physical and social gender transition from female to male.
1997–2000 2018–2018	Elisa Everman	Sheryl "Shushu" ((1999-11-11)November 11, 1999–May 24, 2009(2009-05-24) (aged 9))
		Tiffani (born Timothy) (November 11, 1999 (1999-11-11))	On December 1, 2013, Tiffani began undergoing her own physical and social gender transition nine years after Zinn's transition. Tiffani married Jenna Atkins in 2017 and have one daughter (Ava's first granddaughter): Alisan Brynn Zinn (born June 4, 2018)
First marriage 2001–2010	Angie Willis	Ashli (June 7, 1998 (1998-06-07))	Zinn married Angela Willis on May 27, 2001. They remained married for nine years until her death on June 1, 2010 of heart failure, and Zinn has not remarried since yet in July 2013, Ava filed to legally adopt Angela's daughter, Ashli. When the adoption was final in January 2014 Ashli's name changed to Ashli Lynne Zinn.
		Maxwell ((2001-04-29)April 29, 2001–c.July 19, 2002(2002-07-19) (aged 1)
		Margaret Kimberly ((2002-11-02)November 2, 2002–c.May 6, 2003(2003-05-06) (aged 0)
		Tabitha ((2003-03-27)March 27, 2003–July 17, 2018(2018-07-17) (aged 15))
2014–2017	Kymberly Alvaraz	Kenneth "Baby Kenny" Daniel Alvaraz ((2015-03-28)March 28, 2015–July 17, 2018(2018-07-17) (aged 3))
		Stephani Alvaraz (February 10, 1993 (1993-02-10))	On December 3, 2015, Ava Zinn filed to legally adopt Kymberly's four daughters from Kymberly's previous marriages to Dan Alvaraz. The adoption was finalized on January 4, 2016.
		Haley Alvaraz (December 1, 1995 (1995-12-01))
		Benita Alvaraz (September 20, 1997 (1997-09-20))
		Denise (born David) (January 11, 1999 (1999-01-11))

Virginity Auction and Relationship with Kymberly Alvaraz, incidents,allegations, and break-up

On November 20, 2014, Dan Alvaraz filed for an at-fault divorce in Noblesville, Indiana, citing adultery by his wife, Kym Christian and naming Zinn and fellow transwoman Kristina Chow as co-respondents. News of the divorce filing became public during Kym Christian's trial of, when it was first widely reported that Kym Christian and Zinn were involved in a lesbian relationship prior to Kym Christian fatally shooting Khayla Chow.

Zinn announced on November 28, 2014, that she is involved in a relationship with Vote for the Girls USA moderator Kym Christian effective January 4, 2015. This confirmed speculation that Kym Christian's infidelity and her 20 year marriage to Dan Alvaraz came to an end. As a result, Christian (at age 47 and 15 years Zinn's senior) becomes the eldest significant other of Zinn (surpassing Angela Willis) and had four new step children, Christian's daughters Stephani, Haley, Benita, and Denise.

On December 19, 2014 news of the relationship became public, in a Twitter post by Kymberly Alvaraz that she and Zinn were expecting a baby. The child will be Zinn's 11th, but the fifth for Alvaraz, who has four daughters with Dan Alvaraz. Zinn subsequently confirmed that Alvaraz is pregnant and Zinn, as a woman, is the biological father of Zinn's child and on March 28, 2015 Alvaraz gave birth to a boy named Kenneth "Baby Kenny". Kenneth died on July 17, 2018.

On May 31, 2017, Ava Zinn announced she ended her relationship with Alvaraz on July 4, 2017. Zinn cited Alvaraz's domestic violence incident and her recent confessions as the prime reason for the relationship ending in legal action. A successor was named on February 14, 2018 as Elisa Everman began a relationship with Zinn after an 18 year hiatus. The relationship ended in July 2018 after Everman was arrested for bank robbery in Muncie, Indiana.

Health and personal incidents

Zinn has suffered some minor physical plus major mental and psychological health problems as well as other incidents. Around 1994, she had suffered from child abuse that went unreported. Greater health and personal problems began in 1995 after she was falsely accused of theft. After a visit to her doctor in Hartford City, Indiana, she was sent to see a neurologist and a psychologist in 1986, the latter of whom told Zinn's mother she had Autism (the autism diagnosis has since been improved to Asperger's a year prior to her gender transition in 2003). Greater eal and psychological health problems began in 1991 after Zinn lost a jump rope contest and beat up some girl that resulted in her expulsion from J.C. Knight Elementary School in 1991. After an 18 month stint to a group home/psychiatric institution in New Albany ending on December 25, 1992; she recovered and went back to school.

2014 Vegetarian Wager

After losing a friendly wager on who would make the finals of American Idol's 13th season, Zinn went on a vegetarian diet (or meat boycott) from March 1, 2014 until December 17, 2014 following the conclusion of the thirteenth season of Hell's Kitchen as La Tasha McCutchen was announced the winner, effectively ending the meat strike 17 days early. Zinn states the final meat product she consumed was a pork steak on February 28, 2014. The vegetarian diet became permanent on January 4, 2015.

March 2015 Arrest

On March 12, 2015 while rehearsing for a Vote for the Girls episode, just three hours before the start of the American Idol 14 Top 12 Result, while in negotiation to find a way to keep Vote for the Girls in production during a remodel of the Vote for the Girls set resulting in Zinn (and Alvaraz in addition to the VFTG staff) being displaced, and was not willing to have production interrupted, defending her moderator's contract. Zinn, irate, stressed that under the terms of Zinn's contract--as per Vote for the Girls moderator rules--have be promptly present on the performance (and/or results) night from 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central) to its conclusion and record the site's presentation of the results show(s) night both at the home location of Aeverine Zinn Holdings, and cannot be interrupted, delayed, or joined in progress for any reason. Zinn insisted that she wanted to do a temporary transfer of the networks d, resulting in no interruptions. Upon hearing this, Zinn said “I want this done the way I want to handle this with and ZERO INTERRUPTIONS!”, and during the comment, pounded three times saying, “ZERO INTERRUPTIONS!” and got into the official’s face as the available resolutions Zinn was offered did not meet Zinn’s standards and swearing at the official. Zinn was ejected and was initially given a one-show suspension and a year probation from NoSirGifts. Zinn served a one episode suspension for Vote for the Girls USA and UK from March 12-23 and March 21, respectively.

Then upon seeing her pick of Sarina-Joi Crowe was not saved, Zinn was shown allegedly hitting VFTG moderator Rhonda Rhodes under the chin to get her to make eye contact. Although Zinn didn't comment on the incident afterwards and has not yet done so, Rhodes, her wife (Tricia), and NoSirGifts President and CEO Jack Steele insisted that Zinn did nothing wrong and that she merely lifted Rhodes' chin and told her, "Hold your head up and don't worry about mistakes. Just vote for our picks." Rhodes commented, "She was trying to teach me and I had my head down so she raised my chin up. She was telling me to go out there and don't be afraid to make mistakes. She said I was being too hard on myself after Shi Scott and Lovey James were eliminated." Rhodes later died on March 14, 2015.

2010 and 2015 Sexual Assaults

On June 10, 2010, Zinn was admitted to Methodist Hospital after being sexually assaulted by a black man in Indianapolis. She was released on June 11, 2010. Zinn returned to the production of Vote for the Girls as scheduled the following July.

Zinn suffered a second sexual assault on the afternoon of April 22, 2015 by a black woman that had unprotected sexual intercourse without Zinn's consent. However, she returned to the Vote for the Girls set the same night filming of the American Idol Top 6 Result, and the moderator panel questioned Zinn's mental state at the time.

In May 2017, Zinn announced on her YouTube channel she had been sexually assaulted fifteen years earlier.

September 2016 Burger King Incident

On September 2, 2016, a clip of Zinn delivering news about an accident she witnessed while walking on the north west side of Marion, Indiana thirty minutes earlier on her personal Facebook profile. In the video, a Burger King customer honked directly at Zinn, to which she later admitted to almost swearing yet posted #ThugLife on her YouTube channel. The incident received praise from viewers and fans, who praised Zinn's unexpected and deadpan delivery.

2016-17 Mental State Concern, Ulcers and Domestic Violence incident

From November 2014 until May 2018, viewers in the United States and United Kingdom began noticing that Zinn's voice sounded uncharacteristically gravelly and eally unhealthy during Vote for the Girls shows. Zinn's poor mental health also prevented her from completely covering the death and funeral of Christina Grimmie and a previously scheduled episode that was scheduled to be aired at the start of 2017. On May 31, 2017, Zinn informed viewers through a Facebook Live message that she had been bullied and cyber-bullied and became a bully herself with post traumatic stress disorder, and was starting treatment the following week. .

During an interview with Karly Jameson on The Karly Jameson Show on January 4, 2017, Kymberly Alvaraz and Holly Everman revealed to Jameson that Zinn had hosted Vote for the Girls while she was visibly depressed for the last two years. Sophia Williams also expressed her concern as she felt "Zinn didn't properly announce the winning moderator upon Laurie's victory and the episodes had been recently shoddy at best" but Williams did indicate Zinn did properly congratulate her and her then-girlfriend (now transgendered wife) as the winning moderator of the 11th season of The Voice. Everman recalled during rehearsals for "The Voice 11 Semi-Final Result", Zinn wore a winter hat and wore the same exact outfit when DaNica Shirey was eliminated approximately two years earlier after Zinn's girlfriend was acquitted for fatally shooting Khayla Chow and never saw Zinn wear a skirt or dress in public from her April 22, 2015 sexual assault until a week after Zinn began vaping in March 2017.

In a Facebook post by Alvaraz on January 18, 2017 and by Zinn a day earlier, it was revealed that Zinn was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer and was starting treatment the following Monday. Zinn stated the ulcer was attained she was involved in a "classic case of workplace violence" after Zinn learned something was done without her knowledge or consent.

On January 19, 2017, Zinn was involved in a domestic violence incident with Alvaraz after Alvaraz chocked Zinn over a $650 dental bill. Zinn arrested Alvaraz at Zinn's apartment in Marion, Indiana after Zinn gouged Alvaraz's eye. Alvaraz was escorted by Zinn's 18-year-old adopted daughter, Ashli, to the Marion Police headquarters at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday, January 19, 2017, and Alvaraz was charged with second-degree strangulation, second-degree battery, second-degree threatening and disorderly conduct for allegedly choking her girlfriend, Ava Zinn. On January 20, 2017, Alvaraz pleaded no contest to threatening and breach of peace charges.

October 2017 Incidents

On October 2, 2017, Zinn suffered a bite wound on her left wrist by Pink Team East and fellow I-69er moderator Maribel Mort upon seeing local contestant Addison Agen (Zinn picked Agen due to strict moderator rules) did not get a four chair turn during the blind auditions of season 13 of The Voice on October 2, 2017, Mort shoved Pink Team North moderator Andrea Coolranch onto the floor after Coolranch reportedly pulling Mort's hair-tie and repeatedly throughout the episode, Pink Team South moderators Karla Hansen, Breeanna Sorensen and Jenna Monroe, and Zinn's fellow Purple Team moderators Thia Tola and Jenny Riva all lost their tempers as Mort pulled off Coolranch's necklace and Riva ripping off Tola's pants. Riva and Mort respectively then threw Tola's pants and Coolranch's necklace onto the notorious Cat Pound fan section of Ava Zinn and Alexandra Moffitt audience and were promptly thrown to the ground by Sorensnen. Riva and Mort then proceeded to strike Tola and Hansen, respectively, on the back of their heads before being pulled away by Purple Team North Moderators Rachael Passalt and Kendra Ray.

On October 10, 2017, Zinn suffered a minor shulder injury after Red Team West Villain Kye Sanchez punched Red Team South Villain Clark Jones after Jones took offense to a comment made by Zinn's fellow Purple Team moderator Devin Martin as the audition of a villain's audition on The Voice and an argument between Martin, Bria Savage, Purple Team South Moderators Tim Doogan and Ben Donbar. Zinn fell to the floor in the incident.

A week later, on October 16, 2017, Zinn was stabbed by Pink Team West moderator Sally Brock during a bench-clearing brawl on the set of Vote for the Girls USA. Brock was tackled by security officers on the set and was arrested. Fellow moderators Nadia Lorenzo, Marla McClinton, and Andrea Coolranch also suffered injuries with Zinn suffering stab wounds to the neck and forearms (narrowly missing Zinn's respective cervical (neck) and brachial arteries by millimeters). Zinn's fellow Purple Team colleagues Peta-Alyce Kaizer and Ben Donbar died from similar wounds Zinn suffered from as Kaizer and Donbar had extensive blood loss through a severed brachial arteries .

Brock and her brother Kent Morgan were arrested by security guards on the VFTG set. Police said both Brock and Morgan had confessed. Morgan and Brock were both charged with two counts of felony first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault. If convicted, both Brock and Morgan, they could be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Lawsuits

In July 2017, KBYF anchorwoman Fiona Johnson along with Elisa Everman and Sabrina Everman filed a lawsuit against Zinn with Kymberly Alvaraz, WTOR-FTV, and NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Stations alleging wrongful death following Carlygate II with Holly's suicide and Perri's heart attack, and later received out-of-court financial settlements. A month later, it was revealed Alvaraz personally made a deal with Elisa, Sabrina, and Perri to pay $250,000 to drop the lawsuit as a settlement, and Zinn decided to end the three year relationship with Alvaraz (also settling for $150,000 Alvaraz paid Zinn three years earlier, with Zinn effectively refunding Alvaraz) as an out-of-court settlement.

In October 2017, VFTG villain Clark Jones left Vote for the Girls and immediately filed suit against Zinn for wrongful termination and malicious persecution claiming Zinn had launched a media attack against him, allegedly stating that he was disruptive to the working atmosphere of the show.

LGBT, Education and Vaping rights

Zinn became a vegetarian on March 1, 2014. That same year, she began promoting vaping and LGBT rights in Indiana. On NoSirGifts' On-Air Biography Story program, she credited her first girlfriend, Amanda Davidson, with causing Zinn to become more aware of LGBT rights and becoming a transgendered woman, because Davidson had came out as a bisexual. Ava remarked that Amanda was way ahead of her time as far as LGBT rights were concerned and ten years before Amanda's death Ava began her own gender transition.

Sports involvement

Zinn is a devoted fan of women's sports, the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, Indiana Pacers, Indiana Fever as well Notre Dame Fighting Irish and her alma matter's Missisinewa High School. Zinn has shown her support for the Colts by occasionally wearing a "Believe in Blue" sweatshirt and a Super Bowl XLI shirt, often on Vote for the Girls UK.

Zinn's eventual gender transition to female eventually provided a major windfall five years before the transition, to which Zinn picked up the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, which has traditionally ranked among the highest-rated fan-base during tournament season due to 's traditional status as a college basketball hotbed and local Notre Dame being longtime fixtures in the tournament, NCAA Tournament games had long been among the highest-rated programs in the market during tournament season. This ended when Zinn dropped Bright House in 2008, which now (through ESPN) holds the exclusive television rights to the NCAA Tournament.

As the girlfriend of Kymberly Alvaraz, Zinn occasionally supported the Denver Broncos (due the popularity of now retired quarterback Peyton Manning in both Denver and Indianapolis, Ava Zinn generally watched Colts, Broncos, and/or Bears games when Vote for the Girls UK is not in production) and the NBA's Denver Nuggets, though neither have been able to attend or even watch NBA games since most Pacers and Nuggets games have since moved to cable. Coincidentally, both the Pacers and Nuggets were two of the four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. For the 1976–77 season. Although Indianapolis and Denver both have NFL and NBA teams, Indianapolis does have the Indiana Fever of the WNBA yet does not have an MLB nor a NHL team while Denver has the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and MLB's Colorado Rockies (both supported by Kymberly), but Denver doesn't have a WNBA franchise. At one time, Zinn has stated after her American Idol audition in Pittsburgh, "I have a future in Pittsburgh... as a Pirtates fan" since the Pirates are the Triple-A affiliate of the Indianapolis Indians. Zinn's first and only NHL game was the Avalanches' loss against the Detroit Red Wings February 27, 2016.

External links

• Ava Zinn Official Web site
• @aeverinezinn on Twitter
• Ava Zinn on Facebook
• Ava Zinn's channel on YouTube

Preceded by Archibald Coolranch	All-time Vote for the Girls winning moderator leader December 18, 2012-present	Succeeded by incumbent
Media offices
Preceded by none	Host of Vote for the Girls (United States) April 28, 2010 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by none	Host of Vote for the Girls (United Kingdom) June 1, 2013 – December 19, 2015	Succeeded by Natasha Gower
Preceded by none	Host of Vote for the Girls (Australia) July 15, 2015 – November 24, 2015	Succeeded by Natasha Gower