Caitlyn Jenner is an Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete and of course one half of the parenting duo of one of the most famous families in the world: The Kardashian-Jenners. In 2015, she publicly came out as a trans woman, but in a recent Q&A to promote Sky’s upcoming documentary The House of Kardashian, the Olympian-turned-reality-star opened up more than ever before about her experience about transition.
In anticipation of the new Kardashian documentary, Caitlyn has been trending on Google. As with any time she speaks publicly and ends up a viral topic of debate, some of the search queries tend to be strange our outright problematic. Questions about 'What surgery Caitlyn Jenner has had to transition', what genitals she has and searches like 'Caitlyn Jenner before pictures' are commonplace - all entirely invasive and inappropriate questions.
However, many of them are less problematic and more inquisitive, with Caitlyn opening up about her transition many times before and offering raw, honest explanations for other people in the community to learn from. So, for those of you hoping to understand more about gender identity and Caitlyn's experience of dysphoria, here's everything she said about her experience transitioning in the Q&A.
When did Caitlyn Jenner realise that she was gender dysphoric?
Caitlyn Jenner experienced gender dysphoria long before she came out publicly in 2015, and whilst obviously there were a lot of difficult emotions to contend with, she says she believes that without her gender dysphoria, she wouldn’t have become a world class athlete.
‘When I was growing up you just kept your damn shut and didn’t say anything,' she explains. 'Even as a little dinky kid I wondered about my identity and who I was, but all of those things just made me different and made me special. It was because of that that I needed sports so badly.
‘If I was just a normal kid, with normal reading ability and not dyslexic, an average student with no gender dysphoria, then I wouldn’t have needed sports because I would have just been like everyone else. But for me, I needed that in my soul.’
How did Caitlyn Jenner find transitioning in the public eye?
Understandably, Caitlyn Jenner found transitioning in the public eye incredibly difficult. At one point, Caitlyn had gone on a hike in Malibu and came back to find a series of paparazzi photographers surrounding her car.
She says, ‘I tried to avoid them, but I realised that I couldn’t get home any other way so I sucked it up and headed to my car. I pulled my hoodie as tight as I could around my face so that just my nose was poking out. They were taking pictures and saying all sorts of crap and it was just really really tough.’
Who did Caitlyn Jenner come out to first?
'Me being gender dysphoric was just the secret in the family that no one talked about,' Caitlyn said. ‘All the kids knew and I told all my wives.'
And while Caitlyn says everyone in her family knew that she was experiencing gender dysphoria without her actively having to explain it, she did make the decision to talk to all her kids before transitioning. The first kid she told was her son, Brandon Jenner.
‘I started talking about it and Brandon just said, “I knew the whole time Dad”. Apparently his mom had told him a long time ago about how I was struggling,' Caitlyn said. ‘He then said, “Do you know what Dad? I’ve always been so proud that you’re my father, but I’ve never been prouder of you than I am right now.” Boy was I glad that I started with him!’
Caitlyn then went on to explain everything to her other children – Burt and Cassandra (who she shares with first wife Chrystie Scott), Brody (Brandon’s brother, both of whom she shares with second wife Linda Thompson) and Kendall and Kylie Jenner (who she shares with Kris Kardashian).
‘All the kids were just concerned for me,’ she says. ‘They were fine with my decision but wanted to make sure that society was going to treat me right.’
How did Caitlyn Jenner announce that she was transitioning?
To avoid her story becoming tabloid fodder, Caitlyn Jenner then decided to do an interview with reporter Diane Sawyer on ABC News in April 2015.
She explains, ‘It was supposed to be an hour-long feature, but it ended up getting extended to two hours because I didn’t just want it to focus on me; I wanted to shine a light on trans issues and this marginalised community that I was now a part of.’
This interview was followed two months later by Caitlyn Jenner becoming the first trans woman to grace the cover of Vanity Fair, announcing her new name to the world in the process. After this, Caitlyn Jenner began filming a TV show called I Am Cait which lasted for two seasons.
When did Caitlyn Jenner come out?
Caitlyn Jenner announced the world that she is a transgender woman in April 2015 during her ABC News interview with Diane Sawyer.
Why do Caitlyn Jenner's kids call her dad?
Speaking about the backlash that Kendall and Kylie Jenner have received for calling Caitlyn ‘Dad’, on their respective TV shows and in public, Caitlyn shares, ‘My kids got a lot of criticism for calling me Dad which isn’t fair. They asked me what I wanted them to call me, and I said “Dad”. I’m their father and I’ll always be their father. It’s an insult to their mother if I get them to call me “Mom”.’