In an interview with Diane Sawyer, Jenner said, “My heart and my soul and everything I do in life … that female side is part of me.” And the E! docuseries on Jenner will premiere on July 26.
ABC News
Bruce Jenner — the Olympic gold medalist turned reality star — has finally announced what has been speculated on for more than a year. Welling with tears, Jenner told Diane Sawyer of ABC News, "My brain is much more female than it is male."
"Are you a woman?" Sawyer asked.
Jenner answered simply, "Yes. For all intensive [sic] purposes, I am a woman."
After making the initial announcement, Jenner seemed to relax somewhat. As for why this was happening now, after turning 65, Jenner said, "Bruce lives a lie. She is not a lie. I can't do it anymore."
The two-hour broadcast was far-ranging, and in addition to the main interview, attempted to educate viewers on transgender issues as it unfolded. Though it was personal, and Jenner expressed a range of emotions, its tone was not sensational. Sawyer did not make the same mistake Katie Couric did last year when interviewing Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera. After being asked one too many questions about surgery, Cox politely but firmly shut Couric down, saying, "The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people." Sawyer let Jenner take the lead on questions about what body changes he may undergo, and Jenner made clear that being transgender does not have to do with his sexual orientation. (Jenner has not expressed a preference for female pronouns, so this story uses male pronouns.) "I'm not gay," Jenner said. "I am, as far as I know, heterosexual. ... I've never been with a guy." Later in the interview, Jenner said he's "asexual...for now."
Jenner shot down the idea that this very public announcement had anything to do with the Kardashians, Jenner's stepfamily, who are known for seeking publicity. "What I'm doing is going to do some good and we're gonna change the world," he said. "I really firmly believe that." Later in the interview, the religious Jenner spoke of a revelation in which he thought "maybe this was my cause in life" and mentioned the high "suicide rates, murder rates" among transgender people.
Jenner embodied the American male ideal after winning a gold medal in the decathlon in the 1976 Olympics. But the athlete, who often used the third person in the discussion with Sawyer, said, "Bruce Jenner is — I would say I've always been confused about my gender identity since I was this big." Jenner said he yearned to wear dresses from the time he was a young child, and would try on his mother's and sister's dresses when no one was home.
Jenner told both Chrystie Crownover and Linda Thompson, his first and second wives, about these feelings. Thompson, with whom Jenner has two sons, suggested therapy, as she recounted for the Huffington Post. "My gender was a big part of the breakup," Jenner told Sawyer.
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