I loved watching this interview (after the fact, on ABC's website). I had been avoiding anything on Jenner because of all the cruel jokes I had been hearing, but I saw my therapist the day after it aired, and she had watched it. I didn't even know about it until then. I went home and watched it. I came out publicly the same day. That interview was a big part of it, as previously only a few people knew. Watching that interview helped me immensely. I loved every second of it.

Quote from: kittenpower on April 29, 2015, 02:07:22 PM
Yes, she does look great in that picture; pretty 

Peaceful, confident,, "knowing" grin.
Media = pwned

Omgosh! Lemme post one more time about her!! Quick!!!

I love hearing that this interview has helped people.

So do I. It seems like the few who were vocal in the opposite direction have become mostly silent again.
Mariah

Quote from: awilliams1701 on April 30, 2015, 01:43:00 PM
I love hearing that this interview has helped people.

Most of the negative comments I saw or heard, seem to be coming from people who are making Bruce's experience all about them.

I guess everyone is going to have their own opinions on anything, and that's fine. Good, even. All I know is how the interview impacted me. I'm getting nothing but support from friends and fam, but as I explain to people I know who are asking questions (and it's good that they are!), this interview is proving to be invaluable in helping me explain myself.

It wasn't that long ago that "stealth" was the only safe way to transition.  There was nothing positive in the media like you occasionally see now. Being TG was like having ebola.  I was convinced I would not see any dramatic change, toward the positive, in society's attitude toward Trans people. At least not in my lifetime.

I watched the interview and occasionally I cringed.  Other times I felt like Jenner was taking words out of my mouth.  But never was I expecting much of a positive reaction following the interview.  Then, after the interview, I saw real human compassion towards a Trans person. Sure, there were the phobes, throwing their barbs, devoid of any thought.  But there seemed to be far more positive comments, certainly more than I ever expected.

Maybe the most unaccepted of all TGs is the late transitioner.  After hormones, social demands and conditioning have done their damage, and after spending decades living life in their birth gender, they are the ones who seem to be most reviled, most criticized and most dehumanized.  Then along comes Bruce Jenner, the good-looking, masculine man and onetime hero of so many Americans.  At the age of 65.  And he announces he is Trans and will be transitioning to female. 

That was probably a "wow moment" for many who knew Bruce back in the Olympic hero days. And I think some of them, who are more likely to be transphobic than those who first knew Jenner through the Kardashians, finally got it.  This isn't a choice.  This is just who you are.  And just maybe, some of them got an inkling of what it must be like being pressured to live a life that's not you because you fear you'll become an outcast if you don't.

I really didn't think another public coming out would make any difference, but I'm beginning to think I was wrong. 

It has more impact here than I thought

I was on the bus, on the way to the YMCA when I spotted an older man in his 70s sporting a hat and what i would call golfers casual clothing. In his hand was this book here:



So I was quite surprised. Was this person secretly transgender and picked up the book and brought it on the bus to explore? Was he perhaps a Grandparent who due to the Bruce Jenner Interview, decided to get some material to try to understand it better. Whatever the case may be, I really do think we are seeing a trend towards goodness here. Sure this is San Francisco  (where I live) , but It was still surprising.

The interview went a lot better than I thought it would. Ii don't think it was right for me to assume it would be some horrible spectacle that would make a joke of trans people. I'm sorry.

I had that fear myself. Its perfectly rational. The Khardashians are considered a joke. Most people in my generation know him from that. Actually in my case I only knew of him from everyone making fun of him since I refuse to watch that garbage. I was so worried that it would be taken as a joke, but I'm so glad I was wrong. I just wish he had asked for female pronouns. I find it confusing.

Quote from: rachel89 on May 01, 2015, 12:45:05 PM
The interview went a lot better than I thought it would. Ii don't think it was right for me to assume it would be some horrible spectacle that would make a joke of trans people. I'm sorry.

Please everyone, do not read too much into the pronoun thing with Bruce Jenner. 

That name and image, independent of the human being they are attached to, are a money making business that has been in operation since 1976.  I have a feeling that, like it or not, "Bruce Jenner" has a lot of legal and contractual obligations that need to be sorted out or wound up before the butterfly can shed the chrysalis.

This is probably the reason for things being done the way they are.  One last interview as Bruce Jenner, then a break of several months while the lawyers and the surgeons work their behind the scenes magic, then we get a new reality show in late July, with a beautiful new someone at the center of things waging a very public fight for acceptance.

I think the main thing about the choice of pronouns is that it's Jenner's to make. He said that right now he still prefers masculine pronouns, and that's good enough for me. I'll refer to him that way until he says otherwise. (Not that he'll ever know, of course, but for me it's a matter of respect.)

It's not about what makes us comfortable, it's about his own comfort with his transition and the pace at which he chooses to make it. None of us would be happy if someone were to say to us, "Well, I think you should be using different pronouns!"

His transition, his rules.