Caitlyn Jenner hits back at criticism: ‘I am not a spokesman for this community’
By Ben Kelly
Caitlyn Jenner has claimed she isn’t a spokesperson for the trans community, and still has much to learn on issues affecting the group, in a wide-ranging new interview with Digital Spy.
“There’s criticism out there, but I am not a spokesman for this community. I am not,” she says.
“Everybody in the media puts me in that position because I’m in the media a lot – but I am only a spokesman for me and my story. I have so much to learn in this community. I have so much to learn about trans issues. I have so much to learn about womanhood. There’s a lot for me to learn.”
Promoting the second series of her E! reality series I Am Cait, Jenner admitted the media had been “brutal” to her in the years before she came out publicly as transgender.
“They were trying to out me. It was brutal on me, it was brutal on my family, it was brutal on my children and it was brutal on my loved ones.”
Speaking about her ex-wife Kris, Jenner said she hadn’t been entirely honest about her gender identity during their marriage.
“When we first met 25 years ago, we talked about things, but did I probably downplay it? Absolutely. Did I ever think eventually it would come to where it came today? No. But we had 23 great years together and she is a great person.”
Jenner is also asked about her recent meeting with Hillary Clinton, which came after an episode of I Am Cait showed her criticising the presidential candidate, and saying any republican candidate would be better for trans people.
“I was the only Republican on the bus against all these women that kept firing questions at me and yes, I certainly did get a little defensive after a while. I was totally outnumbered and I got too defensive, but that’s something you learn. When you watch the series, you’ll see I learn to deal with these things and I learned a lot.”
Asked whether meeting Clinton had anything to do with a softening of her views, she refuses to give the former First Lady credit.
“The girls helped me understand what the issues are and how to deal with that in a compassionate way,” she says.
I Am Cait airs on E! at 9pm on Sundays.
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