Page 15 - aua traveller july 17

EMOTIONAL
CAITLYN
JENNER
ACCEPTS
ASHE
COURAGE
AWARD AT
ESPYS
CAITLYN Jenner accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage
Award at the ESPYs on Wednesday night while urging
acceptance for others who are transgender.
She received a standing ovation from some of the
sporting world’s biggest stars after her 10-minute
speech during the annual awards honoring the year’s
top athletes and moments.
“This transition has been harder on me than anything I
can imagine,” said Jenner, who revealed she was in the
process of becoming a woman in a televised interview
with Diane Sawyer in April on ABC.
From the stage, Jenner thanked Sawyer, whom she
called a friend.
Noting her powerful celebrity platform, the 1976 Olym-
pic decathlon champion and current reality TV star
vowed “to do whatever I can to reshape the landscape
of how transgender people are viewed and treated.”
Abby Wambach of the U.S. soccer team that won the
Women’s World Cup presented the trophy to Jen-
ner, whose voice broke as she thanked members of
her famous family, including stepdaughters Kim and
Khloe Kardashian. Tears welled in the eyes of Jenner’s
younger daughter, Kylie, whose sister, Kendall, wiped
a tear from her eye.
“I never wanted to hurt anyone else, most of all my
family and my kids,” said Jenner, wiping her eye.
She admitted that until earlier this year she had never on me. I’m new at this.”
met another transgender person.
The 65-year-old told the audience about trans teen-
agers who are bullied, beaten up, murdered or kill
themselves. Jenner mentioned two people by name
whose deaths particularly touched her.
“Trans people deserve something vital, they deserve
your respect,” she said. “From that respect comes a
more compassionate community.”
ARUBA TRAVELLER - Friday, July 17 2015
Jenner urged the crowd that included football, basket-
ball, baseball and hockey superstars to remember what
they say and do is “absorbed and observed by millions
of people, especially young people.”
“My plea for you tonight is one join me in making this
one of your issues as well,” she said.
Many in the crowd watched intently as Jenner spoke
with little reaction on their faces.
“If you want to call me names, make jokes and doubt
my intentions, go ahead because the reality is I can
take it,” she said. “But for thousands of kids out there representatives approached ESPN suggesting the net-
coming to terms with the reality of who they are they
shouldn’t have to take it.”
A video narrated by “Mad Men” actor Jon Hamm traced
Jenner’s life from the time when she was known as
Bruce Jenner to her current transition. She mentioned
she once considered ending her own life with a gun
she owned.
She was shown applying makeup, buttoning her blouse
in her closet and fastening the strap on her heeled
shoes.
With her trembling hands clasped in front of her, Jen-
ner joked with the audience about her struggle to select ing AIDS from a blood transfusion generated strong
the cream gown she wore.
“OK girls, I get it,” she said, as the audience laughed. “I met Arthur Ashe a few times. I know how important
“You’ve got to get the shoes, the hair, the makeup, it
was exhausting. And the fashion police, please be kind
Jenner didn’t walk the red carpet outside the Microsoft
Theater in downtown Los Angeles, and she didn’t ap-
pear backstage to talk with reporters, as most of the
previous Ashe award recipients have done. ESPN said
Jenner wanted her onstage comments to stand.
Reaction among Jenner’s sporting peers on the red
carpet was mixed.
Little League baseball pitcher Mo’ne Davis called Jen-
ner “brave.”
“She’s really brave to have the courage to get through
a lot of those things,” said the 14-year-old who won
best breakthrough athlete. “I know a lot of people
give her a hard time about it, but just for her family to
give her thatFormer heavyweight champion Evander
Holyfield said, “I just know that’s Bruce Jenner and I’ll
leave it at that.”
RadarOnline.com reported Wednesday that Jenner’s
work give her the Ashe award in exchange for plugs
on her upcoming E! docuseries. ESPN and ABC are
owned by Disney.
“That rumor is completely false,” ESPN spokesman
Josh Krulewitz said. “The Arthur Ashe Courage Award
and ABC interview were never connected.”
Jenner’s publicist Alan Nierob called the report “utterly
false” and had no further comment.
Jenner’s selection to receive the Ashe award named for
the late tennis player who died in 1993 after contract-
debate online.
education was to him,” Jenner said. “Learn as much as
you can about another person to understand them as
well as you can.”
Online critics said college basketball player Lauren
Hill, who died of brain cancer in April, was deserving
of the Ashe honor.
But Hill’s mother, Lisa, attended the show and said her
daughter would not have welcomed the controversy
and made no judgment of others.
Jenner’s series called “I Am Cait” debuts July 26.
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