Caitlyn Jenner has been awarded the Arthur Ashe courage award at the ESPY awards.
Accepting the award Jenner highlighted the
“All across the 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’re different and they’re 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.” Jenner said.
Jenner spoke about recent murders and suicides in the USA and called for more attention to be given to transgender people and the way they are treated by society. Jenner said that her role in the future was to share her story and promote the ideal that we should people for who they are, and accept people’s differences.
Jenner reflected on the times she had met the late Tennis player Arthur Ashe, who the award is named after, and noted how much he valued education.
“Learn as much as you can about another person,” Jenner suggested, “to understand them better.”
Jenner described transitioning as the hardest process she has been through in her life and said transgender people deserved respect for the hard work and commitment.
A fear of hurting other people, including her children, was Jenner’s greatest fear in coming out. In an emotionally filled moment Jenner thanked her family for their support. Supporting Jenner in the audience was her children and her mother.
If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions – go ahead, because the reality is I can take it, but for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn’t have to take it.”
Caitlyn Jenner
“It’s an honour to have the word courage associated with my life,” Jenner said, “but on this night another word comes to mind, and that is fortunate… if you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions – go ahead, because the reality is I can take it, but for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn’t have to take it.”
The Arthur Ashe courage award is named after the late tennis player Arthur Ashe. Ashe was the first black American player accepted on the Davis Cup team and the first black American to win the Men’s singles at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian open.
In 1992 Ashe announced he was living with HIV, he is believed to have contracted the virus via a blood transfusion when he underwent heart surgery in the 1980s. Ashe founded a non-profit group to raise funds for HIV education. Ashe passed away from an AIDS related illness in 1993.
Watch Caitlyn Jenner’s speech below.
