Over the weekend, Caitlyn Jenner enhanced her national Grand Old Party (GOP) credit by reiterating the party's predominant view on transgender athletes. However, as she runs for governor of California, she finds herself conflicted with a key policy leading the state.
In a statement to TMZ, the former Olympic gold medallist, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, said that banning the participation of transgender student athletes in girls’ competitive sports is “a question of fairness,” reiterating the stance Republican leaders have taken across red states.
When asked about the wave of legislative initiatives, Jenner told TMZ Sports, “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.”
Subsequently, Jenner took to Twitter to reiterate her stance, posting, “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.”
Jenner achieved international fame in 1976 by winning the decathlon as Bruce Jenner. She publicly came out as a trans woman in 2015, and has since become an advocate for LGBTQIA+ community, albeit with mixed support from the community.
Last week, Equality California, LGBTQ+ civil rights organisation, took to Twitter to make a statement. They wrote, “Make no mistake: we can’t wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But [Jenner] spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass.”