WATCH: Caitlyn Jenner Tears Up, Asks For Acceptance of People 'For Who They Are'
The former Olympian spoke in public for the first time since her transition, calling it ‘harder for me than anything I could have imagined.’
Dawn Ennis
Category Archives: NEWS
Caitlyn Jenner delivers powerful speech at ESPYs: ‘Trans people deserve respect’
Caitlyn Jenner delivers powerful speech at ESPYs: ‘Trans people deserve respect’
Caitlyn Jenner delivered a powerful 10-minute speech at ESPY Awards on Wednesday (15 July) night in Los Angeles that brought the former Olympian to tears.
Jenner, 65, was given a standing ovation as she walked on stage to accept the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in what was her first major public appearance as a transgender woman.
After pleading with the fashion police to go easy on her and giving a shout out to the US women’s soccer team (‘Ladies, you clean up very well’), Jenner assumed a more serious tone.
The reality TV star said until a few months ago, she had never met another transgender person.
‘I dealt with my situation on my own in private and that turned this journey into an already incredible education,’ she said.
‘It’s been eye-opening, inspiring, but also frightening.’
But Jenner said that journey is even more frightening for youths.
‘All across this country, right now, all across the world, at this very moment, there are young people coming to terms with being transgender,’ she said.
‘They’re getting bullied, they’re getting beaten up, they’re getting murdered and they’re committing suicide.’
She then paid tribute to transgender teenagers Mercedes Williamson, who was murdered in Alabama last month, and Sam Taub, who died by suicide in Michigan in April.
Jenner said her transition had ‘been harder on me than anything I could ever imagine.’
‘For that reason alone, trans people deserve something vital,’ she said.
‘They deserve your respect. And from that respect, comes a more compassionate community, a more empathetic society and a better world for all of us.’
Watch her speech in full below:
The post Caitlyn Jenner delivers powerful speech at ESPYs: ‘Trans people deserve respect’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
Caitlyn Jenner Delivers Spellbinding, Groundbreaking Speech at the ESPY Awards: VIDEO
Caitlyn Jenner Delivers Spellbinding, Groundbreaking Speech at the ESPY Awards: VIDEO
Caitlyn Jenner’s acceptance of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs on Wednesday night was unusual, emotional, groundbreaking, educational and thoughtful, and a must-watch.
Said Jenner to the room of celebrity athletes and the international TV audience:
“It’s been eye-opening, inspiring, but also frightening. All across this country, right now, all across the world, at this very moment, there are young people coming to terms with being transgender. They’re learning that they are different and they are trying to figure out how to handle that, on top of every other problem that a teenager has.
“They’re getting bullied, they’re getting beaten up, they’re getting murdered and they’re committing suicide. The numbers that you just heard before are staggering, but they are the reality of what it is like to be trans today.
“Just last month, the body of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, a transgender young woman of color, was found in a field in Mississippi stabbed to death. I also want to tell you about Sam Taub, a 15-year-old transgender young man from Bloomfield, Michigan. In early April, Sam took his won life. Now, Sam’s story haunts me in particular because his death was a few days before my interview with Diane Sawyer. Every time something like this happens, people wonder, ‘Could it have been different, if spotlighting this issue with more attention could have changed the way things happen?’ We’ll never know.
“If there is one thing I do know about my life, it is the power of the spotlight. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but with attention comes responsibility. As a group, as athletes, how you conduct your lives, what you say, what you do, is absorbed and observed by millions of people, especially young people. I know I’m clear with my responsibility going forward, to tell my story the right way — for me, to keep learning, to reshape the landscape of how trans issues are viewed, how trans people are treated. And then more prominently to promote a very simple idea: accepting people for who they are. Accepting people’s differences.
“My plea to you tonight is to join me in making these issues your issues as well. How do we start? We start with education. I was fortunate to meet Arthur Ashe a few times and I know how important education was to him. Learn as much as you can about another person to understand them better.
Watch it, below:
The post Caitlyn Jenner Delivers Spellbinding, Groundbreaking Speech at the ESPY Awards: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
Andy Towle
Caitlyn Jenner Delivers Spellbinding, Groundbreaking Speech at the ESPY Awards: VIDEO
Caitlyn Jenner Takes ESPYs By Storm: 'Trans People Deserve Something Vital. They Deserve Your Respect'
Caitlyn Jenner Takes ESPYs By Storm: 'Trans People Deserve Something Vital. They Deserve Your Respect'
In her first public appearance since announcing her decision to transition, Caitlyn Jenner mesmerized the crowd at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday as she accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPY Awards.
Jenner spoke about her own personal experience so far as a transgender woman. But she also dedicated a significant percentage of her speech to a thoughtful and touching discussion of the vast number of issues facing the larger transgender community.
“Trans people deserve something vital. They deserve your respect,” she said. “And from that respect comes a more compassionate community, a more empathetic society and a better world for all of us.”
“At this very moment there are young people coming to terms with being transgender,” she added at another moment, noting the high levels of bullying, homicide and suicide the transgender community must grapple with still today. The trans community, she said, needs the American community’s empathy and understanding.
Jenner admitted she had never talked with another transgender person up until very recently, in what she said was a truly educational experience. “It’s been eye-opening inspiring but also frightening,” she said of her overall experience since she told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in April that she would be transitioning from male to female.
In a video about her experience preceding the speech, Jenner discussed about what she has learned about trans-related issues since then and how she decided over time she would become not just a trans woman, but a trans advocate.
“I came to kind of a revelation that out of all the things I have done in my life, that maybe this is my calling,” she said. “To take my struggle, throw it out in front of the world, maybe I can bring understanding on this subject. It’s time that I do my best. This is an issue we can deal with. This is not something people have to die over.”
Maura Mandt, the ESPYs co-executive producer, told Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch in the lead up to the show that Jenner’s decision to transition in such a public forum “displayed enormous courage and self-acceptance.”
“Bruce Jenner could have easily gone off into the sunset as this American hero and never have dealt with this publicly. Doing so took enormous courage,” Mandt told Deitsch. “He was one of the greatest athletes of our time. That is what the Arthur Ashe Courage Award is about, somebody from the athletic community who has done something that transcends sport.”
Jenner became a household name in 1976 when she won the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics. But after ESPN announced the selection of Jenner in June, the network faced large amounts of backlash from those who believed there were more deserving candidates. Bob Costas called the decision “a crass exploitation play” and criticism became so loud that ESPN issued a follow-up statement several days after the initial announcement:
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is meant to honor individuals whose contributions transcend sports through courageous action. Sometimes that courage is demonstrated over the course of a lifetime and sometimes it is demonstrated in a single act that shines a light on an important contemporary issue. At all times, there are many worthy candidates. This year, we are proud to honor Caitlyn Jenner embracing her identity and doing so in a public way to help move forward a constructive dialogue about progress and acceptance.
The award is given to those “possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost.”
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne summed up the feelings of many on Wednesday:
If you’re uncomfortable watching Caitlyn get this award now, I promise you 10 years from now you’ll look back and wonder why.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 16, 2015
Who cares about the Kardashian connection. That’s a detail, not what matters. Caitlyn is a sports and American hero. So glad @ESPYS got that
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 16, 2015
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Michigan trans skater, 15, dies by suicide
Michigan trans skater, 15, dies by suicide
A 15-year-old transgender skater died by suicide on 9 April, it was reported this week.
Sam Taub, who was also known as Casper, from West Bloomfield, Michigan skated under the number 57 alongside his teammates in the Darlings of Destruction Junior Derby League.
Taub is the ninth transgender teen to die by suicide this year.
‘Casper had been known to be struggling with gender identity and the resulting bullying from peers,’ the Derby Central website reported.
Taub is being remembered by the Darlings of Destruction as ‘a bright and shining star’ whose ‘sense of humor was fantastic.’
Messages of remembrance and support having begun pouring in over social media with the hashtag #DoItFor57.
Skaters are also honoring Casper’s life this weekend by wearing bandanas, wristbands, duct tape, stickers and uniforms with the #DoItFor57 on them and wearing turquoise to promote suicide prevention awareness.
The post Michigan trans skater, 15, dies by suicide appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/michigan-trans-skater-15-dies-by-suicide/
HRC Congratulates Caitlyn Jenner on Receiving ESPN’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award at Tonight’s ESPYs
HRC Congratulates Caitlyn Jenner on Receiving ESPN’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award at Tonight’s ESPYs
Olympic champion inspires others while advancing visibility and understanding of transgender people
HRC.org
Who Does Scott Walker Think the Boy Scouts' Gay Ban 'Protected?'
Who Does Scott Walker Think the Boy Scouts' Gay Ban 'Protected?'
The Boy Scouts of America’s long-standing ban on gay members ‘protected children and advanced Scout values,’ Walker said Tuesday. He has so far declined to clarify.
Sunnivie Brydum
"I Was Very, Very Happy That Stonewall Had Happened."
"I Was Very, Very Happy That Stonewall Had Happened."
I’m From Driftwood is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit archive for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer stories. New stories are posted on the site every Wednesday.
Perry Brass grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and knew he was gay at 15. After being bullied, he attempted suicide. At 17, he went to the University of Georgia where the bullying only intensified. To escape, he fled to San Francisco which he heard was “crawling with queers.” After not being able to find work, he finally landed in New York City. But even NYC wasn’t as welcoming as Perry had hoped:
[A] month after I arrived in the city, I was barely 19, I was actually involved in a bar raid. And it was in a bar in midtown Manhattan that was a fairly swanky bar. And I was in the back room with a guy I met who I actually knew and we were told basically to freeze because the cops were in the front room where the bar itself was and there was a raid going on. Luckily, I found a back entrance to the bar and I was with this guy that I knew and we ended up in an alley. In Midtown there these alleys between buildings, and it was pouring rain and we were able to get out on the street.
Perry couldn’t seem to escape the abuse from being gay, whether it was from bullies or the cops. But one night in June, Perry was at the bar, Julius’, when he heard that there was a raid down the street at Stonewall and “the girls” were fighting back. He joined the riot the very next day, finally able to push back against the abuse he had endured his whole life for being gay. Perry recalls:
I didn’t have that attitude that a lot of people had which was, “Well, this is the way life is, we just have to accept it, we’re given our tiny bit of what I would call our ‘stylish freedom,'” in other words, if you had the money you could go to Fire Island, you could go to the Hamptons, and I knew some very stylish queens who did that and they thought this little opening of freedom was all they were going to get and they were just so happy to get it, and I didn’t have that attitude. I hated that. I really hated it. So I was very, very happy that Stonewall had happened.
WATCH:
For more stories, visit I’m From Driftwood, the LGBTQ Story Archive.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Irish phone provider slammed over transphobic advert
Irish phone provider slammed over transphobic advert
The Irish branch of an international telecommunications provider has been accused of transphobia over parts of their new advertising campaign.
Three Ireland received hundreds of messages on Twitter and Facebook after a user spotted the new poster in the Dublin neighborhood of Stoneybatter.
‘Sorry Vodafone customers,’ the poster reads.
‘It turned out he was a she after you’d used all your data.’
Hi @ThreeCare. Can someone explain this ad in Stoneybatter? Certainly insensitive, possibly transphobic, not okay. pic.twitter.com/uun3oVDOha
— Luke Field (@LukePField) July 15, 2015
Users accused Three of considering trans people to be ‘a cheap joke’ and described the tweet as ‘insensitive’ and ‘disgusting’, with a user going by the alias demolitionl0ver saying ‘if the “best bit” of something is a trans person as a punchline, it shouldn’t be the best bit.’
Three’s social media staff were quick to react on both Twitter and Facebook, sending out apologies and explanations of the campaign’s intention to users who commented or complained about the ad.
‘The wider campaign gives examples of when you miss the best bits of TV/fulms while you’re streaming, because you’ve run out of data,’ Sheena, one of Three’s twitter team, said to various users.
‘We hope this explains the concept and shows that no offence was intended at all.’
But when users continued complaining about the advert, Three decided to completely remove the offensive poster from the campaign.
‘After reviewing the feedback we’ve decided this ad will be removed,’ the social media team told users from about 6pm local time.
‘It wasn’t our attention to cause any offence.’
At the time this goes live, no official statement had been given.
The post Irish phone provider slammed over transphobic advert appeared first on Gay Star News.
Stefanie Gerdes
www.gaystarnews.com/article/irish-phone-provider-slammed-over-transphobic-advert/
News: Anti-Gay ‘Future Conference’, Portland’s Power Lines, Humpday Hotness, Caitlyn Jenner
News: Anti-Gay ‘Future Conference’, Portland’s Power Lines, Humpday Hotness, Caitlyn Jenner
> Trans teen Jazz Jennings and her mom give advice to parents raising transgender kids.
> Omar Sharif Jr. reflects on the iconic legacy of his grandfather.
> Inside the religious right’s anti-LGBT “Future Conference.”
> Obama scolds reporter at White House briefing on Iran.
> One Direction-er Louis Tomlinson is going to be a daddy.
> Portland has some new very, er, erect decorations on its power lines.
> Humpday Hotness: Tomas Guarracino.
> Nick Jonas thinks heterosexual male artists should “reach out” to their gay fans.
> First look: Homeland Season 5.
> Justin Bieber strips down for Interview magazine.
> Disney is making a live-action prequel to Aladdin.
> Digging into the alleged “scandal” over that Planned Parenthood video.
> Siri has no time to play games with you about Caitlyn Jenner’s name.
> Jenner will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award from Abby Wambach at tonight’s ESPY Awards.
> Donald Trump alleges he has a net worth of over $10 billion.
> Same-sex couples can finally get married in Puerto Rico starting today.
> Cuban LGBT activists harassed at Havana airport.
> California judge calls for UBER to be suspended, fined $7.3 million.
The post News: Anti-Gay ‘Future Conference’, Portland’s Power Lines, Humpday Hotness, Caitlyn Jenner appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
News: Anti-Gay ‘Future Conference’, Portland’s Power Lines, Humpday Hotness, Caitlyn Jenner
