"It was easy to come out as trans. It was harder to come out as Republican," she says during visit to Cleveland on Day 2 of the GOP Convention.
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| Caitlyn Jenner |
CLEVELAND, OH — Caitlyn Jenner came to Cleveland for the Republican National Convention. And why not? This has thus far been the most unusual gathering of Republicans in decades.
Jenner's Republican political beliefs were inherited from her father back when she was Bruce Jenner, a young and impressionable lad.
"My father was in the 5th Ranger Battalion, landed on Omaha Beach, he's buried in Arlington. He was a really good man," Jenner said Wednesday morning before a supportive crowd gathered for a "Big Tent Brunch," in a tent outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, hosted by the American Unity Fund, a civil rights organization for LGBT people.
Her throat catching a bit with emotion, Jenner went on to say, "If my dad knew what was going on with this country, when he fought so hard, and so many people died around him ... I think he'd be very disappointed."
Her journey from Olympic athlete and male role model fit for the Wheaties box to father, reality TV character and, most recently, transgender woman, has been well told. The lives of Bruce and Caitlyn Jenner have been open to public scrutiny for many years.
And yet, one revelation was very hard for the 65-year-old Jenner: "It was easy to come out as trans. It was harder to come out as Republican."
Jenner engaged in Jenner transitioned last year from male to female, sharing many details of the change on television in the E! series "I am Cait" and in public appearances, and inspiring many people to talk about the transgender community.
The talk is not always kind.
That's why Jenner — good-naturedly introduced as "the most famous Republican in the world" — came to Cleveland to share the stage with other speakers in the LGBT community to discuss the hostile attitude of this convention's Republican platform. The lack of a live-and-let-live, judge-not-lest-ye-be-judged attitude among Republicans who proudly proclaim Christian attitudes leaves Jenner "disappointed."
And yet she remains a conservative and hopeful for the Republican Party.
"I think our best hope to get back to a constitutional government is in the Republican Party," she said. "I won't give up hope on it."
Jenner noted how the hysteria about public toilets has been used to target transgender people for discrimination. Many Republicans — proud members of a party that espouses less government regulation and prizes individual liberties and personal privacy — favor gender laws regulating the use of public toilets.
More than two dozen states have adopted restrictive regulations under the mantle of "public safety."
"I am and everybody in the trans community is for safety," Jenner said. "We want women to be secure, we want men to be secure, we want safety in bathrooms. ... All the laws that are on the books right now protect people in bathrooms.
"A guy going into bathrooms, whether he's in a Lakers uniform or a dress and molesting somebody is illegal, and we want him prosecuted and put away. The laws are already there that protect people in bathrooms."
The toilet laws just aren't necessary, Jenner said, adding that she hasn't used a men's room in 18 months.
More Republican lawmakers have been arrested while engaged in lewd public restroom behavior than transgender people, she noted, joking: "Maybe we should ban Republican representatives at the state level from being in bathrooms if we're trying to protect people."
Not only is Jenner a conservative Republican, she's a Christian, too. That faith was very important in Jenner's transition from male to female, she told the audience. She shared her decision and feelings about transitioning with her pastor.
"He told me God still loves me no matter who I am," Jenner said.
Jenner believes she's been called not only to "live authentically" as a woman but also "to make a difference in the world" for others who face the same personal struggle she did and the same struggle with society that she faces.
"We are part of society. We are part of humanity," she said. "God created very colorful human beings throughout the world."
If Donald Trump were in the room with her now, what would Jenner tell the GOP's presidential nominee?
"I would tell the Republicans, I would tell Donald, these are people who ... have been marginalized for so many years," Jenner said. "We have to provide a safe environment for the next generation coming up. That's the most important thing."