Last night, former Olympic Gold Medalist, and current reality TV personality, Bruce Jenner came out in front of the whole nation -- the whole world actually -- announcing in an interview with Diane Sawyer that he is transgender. Now unless you were living in a tabloid, television and internet free world for the last year, you had to know this was coming. What many of us probably didn't anticipate was Jenner also coming out as a Republican.
I had to work late last night and got home after 10:00, but still in time to watch much of the interview. I was really cheering Jenner on, admiring his bravery, and thinking what a positive impact this very public announcement was going to have toward advancing awareness of the LGBT struggle for acceptance, respect and rights. Here was an American hero, and Olympian no less, declaring he was transgender and had known it for years. Transgender people now had a very famous hero. Perhaps families struggling to come to terms with the gender identity of a child could now see this issue in a more positive light. Perhaps now that transgender family member might not feel so all alone in the journey of finding how to live in a society hostile to people like her. Perhaps now she had an opening to say and believe "see, I'm not so strange, I'm not so different, I'm a person just like everyone else, just like Bruce Jenner."
"I'm me. I'm a person. This is who I am. I'm not stuck in anybody's body. My brain is much more female than male," Jenner said. "For all intents and purposes, I am a woman. People look at me differently. They see you as this macho male, but my heart and my soul and everything that I do in life it is part of me, that female side is part of me. That's who I am. I was not genetically born that way. ... As of now I have all the male parts and all that kind of stuff so in a lot of ways we're different, but we still identify as female. And that's very hard for Bruce Jenner today. Why? I don't want to disappoint people."
In response to Sawyer's questioning this as nothing more than a publicity stunt meant to boost ratings for "Life with the Kardashians", he was somewhat glib but also indicated that his presence on the show provided an opportunity to make a difference.
"But what I'm doing. It's going to do some good. And we're gonna change the world. I really firmly believe that that we're going to make a difference in the world with what we're doing. And if the whole Kardashian show and reality television gave me that foothold into that world to be able to go out there and really do something good. I'm all for it. I got no problem with that. [here he pauses for several seconds] Understand?" Source:
ABC Breaking US News | US News Videos
Man, this was inspirational stuff! But then came the unexpected twist. I was ready for the transgender announcement, but I was not expecting this:
Sawyer, after highlighting issues of unemployment and workplace discrimination faced by the transgender community, asked Jenner if he cheered on Obama earlier this year when the president became the first to use the word "transgender" as he called for action on these issues during his State of the Union Address.
"He actually was the first one to say the actual word transgender, I will certainly give him credit for that," Jenner replied. "But not to get political, I've just never been a big fan -- I'm kind of more on the conservative side."
"Are you a Republican?" Sawyer asked.
"Yeah! Is that a bad thing? I believe in the Constitution." Source: Huffington Post
Dang, I thought to myself. Did he just say that? Why did he have to ruin the whole thing? My response was emotional. I was ticked off that he had to qualify his affirmation of the President's bold, ground breaking statement with an admission that he was not a fan, he was a Republican and an implication that Obama was undermining the Constitution. Good grief!
I started to calm down a little when Sawyer followed up by pointing out that many conservatives would find this whole business distasteful. He deflected her point by saying neither party could claim total understanding of the issue. What a dodge. The Republicans have made it clear there is no support in the party for LGBT issues, unless the focus was on enacting legislation to discriminate against them. To her credit, Sawyer kept at it, asking him whether he would enlist McConnell and Boehner to "help champion this cause."
"I would do that, yeah, in a heartbeat," Jenner said. "Why not? And I think they'd be very receptive to it." Huffington Post.
Hah! Good luck, Bruce. It is really hard to imagine McConnell and Boehner acting to "champion" the transgender cause, but good for Sawyer for getting Jenner on the record saying he would broach the subject with them. This led me to start seeing why Jenner being a Republican was actually a good thing; a very good thing. Here is why.
Firstly there have to be at few reasonable Republicans who may be dealing with this issue with friends or members of their own families. Hopefully Jenner's announcement will give them cause to be more tolerant and even supportive.
Secondly if the media, LGBT advocacy groups and Democratic leaders do they're jobs, they will be calling out all relevant parties to publically take a stand on transgender and other related issues. They will also need to exert pressure on Jenner to follow through on his promise to bring the matter to GOP leaders. When Republican legislators support anti-LGBT laws, Bruce Jenner's name should be invoked and he should be asked for statements on the matter. For example, it is still legal in many states for an employer to fire someone for being LGBT. How do you feel about this, Ms. Jenner? And how will this be handled in the reality show? Jenner wants to use the show as a platform to "make a difference in the world".
Jenner is going to have to come to terms with her loyalty to the party that will inevitably reject her. Will she join the Log Cabin Republicans who issued a statement of support?
Log Cabin Republicans National Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo issued the following statement:
As the nation’s only organization representing LGBT conservatives and straight allies, Log Cabin Republicans congratulates Bruce Jenner in the tremendous courage he demonstrated tonight, being true to himself both in terms of his personal identity as well as his political identity. There is a home for you in Log Cabin Republicans — as there is for all lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender conservatives and straight allies.
Source: Log Cabin Republicans
This is probably going to be the only Republican group to issue any such public support for Jenner. At least for now. But the odds are certain that there are well known Republicans still in the closet, many of whom have supported discriminatory laws and have received substantial financial support from Evangelical Christian benefactors. There are going to be many cringe worthy interviews where GOP leaders are going to squirm and equivocate like Indiana Governor Mike Pence, or do just the opposite and share their true feelings in outrageous statements that show just how bigoted and repugnant they really are. Now that Jenner is out, and because she had the audacity to also come out as a Republican, the heat has just been turned up under their hypocritical asses.