Caitlyn Jenner thinks she’s ‘too controversial’ for the trans community
Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th annual Women’s March LA. (Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty)
Caitlyn Jenner thinks she didn’t become a “spokesperson” for the trans community because she’s too “controversial”.
In an interview with The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast, Jenner, 71, said that her background and political beliefs meant she did not receive the warm welcome into the trans community that other public figures, like Elliot Page, did.
Host Michael Bosstick compared Jenner coming out in 2015 to Page in 2020, saying: “I’m very happy that your family was so supportive and the people closer were supportive, but I feel there’s a double standard where like, you also got a lot of s**t from a lot of people that are very supportive of other people in Hollywood transitioning, but maybe if you don’t fit that agenda or that kind of typecast, they’re not as forgiving with someone like yourself.
“I wonder if you’ve ever thought about that double standard?”
Jenner hesitated before replying. “I gotta be very careful with that. The trans community is probably more critical than the general public,” she said.
Caitlyn Jenner remains a Republican.
The Olympian and former Keeping up With the Kardashians star said that because of her “privilege” trans people don’t want her to “be a spokesperson for the community”.
“I’ve had every privilege there is in the world. I agree with them,” Caitlyn Jenner said, adding that it’s “disappointing” because she “thought I could really make a difference and change the world. And in a lot of ways I did just being myself, but I mean, I try to do things politically”.
Jenner readily admits she is “more on the Republican side than anything” and is unwilling to shift her political values – “Well, I never have been [left wing], never will be, you know?” – and recalled how this meant that LGBT+ organisations she donated to tried to avoid being associated with her.
“Near the end, I would help some of the organisations here in the Los Angeles area and they would have an event that I helped pay for and they would ask me not to come cause I’m too controversial,” she shared.
Jenner added: “I’ve had members of the community just tear into me and that’s like, ‘Guys, I’m only trying to help them. I’m here to help’.
“I feel like my greatest contribution that I can make is just being out there,” she said, “without trying to change the world. Just be out there, do shows.”
While she may not have found trans communities welcoming, some older, more conservative people become less transphobic after Caitlyn Jenner publicly came out as trans in 2015, a 2020 study suggested.
These same older people were also more likely to support advances in trans rights after Jenner revealed that she was trans.
The study authors suggested that this was likely due to the fact that more people in this generation would have been familiar with Jenner during her athletic career.
