Caitlyn Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner, October 28, 1949) is an American television personality and former track and fieldathlete.[2]
A former college football player, Jenner came to international attention as a decathlete, winning the gold medal in the men's decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and setting a world record not beaten until 1980. Jenner subsequently starred in numerous movies and television specials including several made-for-TV movies, and was briefly Erik Estrada's replacement on the TV series CHiPs.
Jenner was married for 23 years to Kris Jenner (née Houghton; formerly Kardashian); the couple and their children appeared beginning in 2007 on the television reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Following their divorce in 2015, Jenner came outin a television interview as a trans woman, initially preferring male pronouns until her transition was more complete.[3] In June 2015, Jenner revealed her new name, Caitlyn, and the change to using female pronouns;[4] many news sources have described her as the most famous openly transgender person in the world.[5][6][7]
Gender transition
In an April 2015, 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer, Jenner came out as a trans woman saying she had dealt with gender dysphoria since her youth, and that, for all intents and purposes, "I’m a woman." Jenner cross dressed for many years and began physically transitioning in the 1980s with (male-to-female) hormone replacement therapy, but quit after meeting Kris Kardashian in the early 1990s.[72][73] In June 2015 she debuted her new name, Caitlyn, image, and the use of female pronouns officially.[4] Her transition is also the subject of an eight-part documentary series that will premiere in July 2015. While she has undergone some cosmetic surgery as part of transitioning, she has not ruled out gender reassignment surgery, and feels life as a woman is primarily a matter of mental state and lifestyle.[74] She said she has never been attracted to men and had exclusively been attracted to women before her transition, but currently identifies as asexual.[75][76]
Jenner's announcement came at an unprecedented time for trans visibility, including legislative initiatives.[77][78] The 20/20 interview had 20.7 million viewers, making it television's "highest-ever rated newsmagazine telecast among adults 18–49 and adults 25–54."[79] The Daily Beast noted that, possibly because of Jenner's "honesty, his vulnerability, or his fame", she may have made "cheap jokes" about trans people—some examples of which aired during the show as part of the interview's educating the public on transphobia—"seem mean to a mainstream audience on an unprecedented scale."[80] Using examples of how comedians had changed in their talking about Jenner's transition, The Daily Beast saw the change as the same evolution that took place in acceptance of LGBT people as a whole when "comedians finally cross the critical threshold from mockery to creativity in their joke-telling."[80]
Prior to Jenner's 20/20 interview, a two-part special titled Keeping Up with the Kardashians: About Bruce was filmed with the family to answer questions and prepare their children for personal and public aspects of the transition.[81] The episodes aired in May 2015 and emphasized a point made in the 20/20 prelude that there is no one right way to transition. Jenner made it a priority to ensure that all her children were independent first before focusing inward.[81] Premiering the new "her", as Jenner referred to her emerging gender identity, was done with a photo spread, interview, and Vanity Fair cover shot by Annie Leibovitz, which was released by Jenner via Twitter.[82] The Vanity Fair cover shot included the caption "Call me Caitlyn" and accompanied her new Twitter handle, @Caitlyn_Jenner, and the message, "I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me."[83] Vanity Fair also reported that she considered the names Heather and Cathy before deciding on Caitlyn.[84] She amassed over one million Twitter followers in just over four hours, setting a new Guinness World Record and surpassing Barack Obama, who, a month before, accomplished the same feat in four and a half hours.[85]
Jenner's first public appearance as Caitlyn will be receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during the 2015 ESPY Awards in July 2015. She was given the award because "she has shown the courage to embrace a truth that had been hidden for years, and to embark on a journey that may not only give comfort to those facing similar circumstances, but can also help to educate people on the challenges that the transgender community faces."[86]
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