On January 5th, 2016, The Advocate released an interview with one of the most talked about celebrities of 2015: Caitlyn Jenner. Recently, Caitlyn has been under scrutiny by LGBT+ advocates for multiple reason, including her former stance on same-sex marriage.
The article, titled “The Education of Ms. Jenner,” primarily focused on her growth and journey as a trans woman and advocate, also discussing the media-given, sort-of automatic label of “trans icon.”
This is one of the numerous issues many people have with Caitlyn: her privilege. She is white and extremely wealthy, so obviously she has enormous privilege over many other transgender men and women (such as people of color and the lower class). Many argue that there is no way she can be a trans icon because she will never have to deal with half of the issues that many trans men and women do. Thankfully, Caitlyn acknowledged the title and debunked it, stating, “The media has kind of labeled me as the spokesperson for the trans community. That is not the case. I am only a spokesperson for my own journey. After that, I know nothing.”
Another (truly nonsensical) issue with Caitlyn’s views would be her (former) stance on same-sex marriage. While on The Ellen Degeneres Show, she proclaimed that she doesn’t understand why same-sex couples have to get “married.” After receiving understandable backlash, she later posted this on her blog: “Like many people, there was a time when I didn’t realize how important it is for gay couples to have the right to get married. But after hearing from my gay friends and learning more about the hardships they faced because of discrimination, it became clear to me that everyone should be able to marry the person they love.”
>Whether her claims are authentic or not, they represent something we all must remember: we have room for growth. Sometimes we don’t fully understand concepts (such as same-sex marriage), and we make improper presumptions. Thankfully, we can educate ourselves or have others educate us, so we can fully understand.
Not including the vehicular homicide incident, it is admirable that Caitlyn is trying to grow and learn and become more educated, even if you still don’t like her. We need to continue to embrace and encourage this kind of personal growth so that we can all become more educated and informed.
