Caitlyn Jenner, once a favorite of the American left, has drawn harsh criticism for saying that transgender males should not compete in women’s sports, once again illustrating that anyone who opines outside the accepted orthodoxy can quickly go from hero to villain in the left’s eyes.
Quick Facts
Bruce Jenner won fame after winning a gold medal and setting a world record in the Olympic decathlon in 1976, earning the title “World’s Greatest Athlete.” Jenner then catapulted into the news again in 2015 for publicly announcing that the once famously masculine athlete was a transgender and would now go by the name Caitlyn.
Jenner was lauded for the decision, and ESPN even awarded Jenner the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs, a decision that drew criticism from some on the left and the right.
On receiving the award, Jenner spoke about the difficulties transgender children face, saying,
“They’re getting bullied, they’re getting beaten up, they’re getting murdered, they’re committing suicide…. If you want to call me names, make jokes, and doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it. But for thousands of kids out there coming to terms with the reality of who they are, they shouldn’t have to take it… Trans people deserve something vital, they deserve your respect. From that respect comes a more compassionate community.”
Recently, Jenner announced a plan to run as a Republican in the upcoming gubernatorial recall election in California. On Saturday, a TMZ reporter surprised Jenner by asking the Republican candidate’s opinion on transgenders competing in women’s sports. Jenner responded, “This is a question of fairness. That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls’ sports in school. It just isn’t fair. And we have to protect girls’ sports in our schools.”
Jenner later tweeted, “I didn’t expect to get asked this on my Saturday morning coffee run, but I’m clear about where I stand. It’s an issue of fairness and we need to protect girls’ sports in our schools.”
The stance quickly drew the ire of transgender advocates on social media.
Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor, Season 4 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” tweeted, “A trans girl is a girl. A trans boy is a boy. Everyones [sic] built different no matter what gender you are. Theres [sic] very small framed people and also larger framed muscular people all across the spectrum! STOP finding ways to delegitimize someone’s gender. SHAME ON U @Caitlyn_Jenner.”
Trans activist and “Transparent” actress Shakina Nayfack called Jenner “uninformed” and “self-hating,” tweeting,
“Transphobes are obsessed with ‘biological sex’ as though being transgender isn’t a biological phenomenon. This is why I think it’s important to acknowledge transness in conversations about biological diversity. The human species is more complex than a colonial binary can contain.”
Writer and activist Charlotte Clymer claimed, “Caitlyn Jenner completely fails to understand the science here. This has not been a problem. The GOP is fabricating this issue and funding Jenner to claim this nonsense. She is about as credible as any paid shill.”
Clymer went so far as to call Jenner a traitor to the cause, tweeting, “Caitlyn Jenner is anti-trans. She doesn’t understand the science, and she is pandering to the ignorance of anti-trans people. I have absolutely no problem saying Caitlyn Jenner supports and directly benefits from transphobia.”
What a strange and fickle world our social media-driven culture has become. One would think that the left, who prevents anyone from questioning its protected classes including transgenders, would listen to the well-informed opinion of Jenner, who is both transgender and a former male athlete. In the left’s world, however, people are nothing but tools, a means to an end, and anyone no longer useful to their cause is soon tossed aside with as much personal concern and compassion as tossing a piece of trash to the side of the road.
Six years ago, Jenner was given a courage award for receiving transgender surgery, but because Jenner’s commitment to the LGBT cause isn’t considered total, Jenner is somehow “anti-trans.” Jenner’s ESPY speech mentions the struggles that transgender kids are said to face, asking simply for respect and a more compassionate community, but because the left’s new scapegoat has the slightest remnant of an understanding of biology, the hero is now the villain.
In allowing one divergent opinion to recast Jenner from champion of transgender rights to anti-trans villain, the left once again shows that nothing but total devotion to its orthodoxy is permitted.
