Caitlyn Jenner’s poignant Women of the Year speech has us completely misty-eyed
It’s been quite the year for Caitlyn Jenner. Back in July, she accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards, giving an absolutely beautiful and important speech on transgender acceptance that blew us all away. Last night, she was honored with the top nod of Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards, and she once again gave a stellar speech that has us misty-eyed.
“[W]hen it comes to gender, everyone in this room is on a journey,” she said, standing poised and elegant on the stage in a stunning blue gown. “We are constantly learning and growing as human beings learning about ourselves, but there is a second part of this population when it comes to gender. There is massive confusion deep down inside.”
In her speech, Caitlyn looked back on her life, expressing how difficult it was to come to terms with what she should do about her gender identity. After a long time, she knew she had to open up and tell the truth for some very important people in her life: her kids. “So I sat down with each one of my 10 children and it was the big secret in the family that no one could talk about because I was getting destroyed in the tabloids every week, walking through the grocery line looking at the headlines and so were my children and it was hurtful,” she explained. “So I sat each of them down and said, this is my story. This is who I am.”
She also decided that perhaps this was her purpose — to make a difference in the world. “What a great opportunity in life to have, so few of us ever get the opportunity,” she said. But it hasn’t been an easy road:
There were a lot of roadblocks for Caitlyn, especially involving official paperwork. For this reason, she explained that hasn’t been able to travel on commercial airlines for over a year. She hasn’t had an “authentic ID.”
“Finally, last week I got my driver’s license and gender marker F,” she said. “It’s always the little things in life. I am sitting on the plane for the first time reading Glamour magazine and not having to fold over the cover so no one can see what I was actually reading, and I had it opened up beautifully and just reading through Glamour magazine was absolutely great.”
Congratulations, Caitlyn. In just six months, you have achieved so much. We could not be happier for you or more thankful for all the tremendous work you are doing.
Related reading:
Caitlyn Jenner, on conquering her biggest fear
Why today is Caitlyn Jenner’s most important birthday yet
(Images via Twitter, Instagram.)
