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Caitlyn Jenner ESPY award
Celebrity

The best moments from Caitlyn Jenner’s ESPY Awards speech

By Ashleigh Forster
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Caitlyn Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs (that’s short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) last night and delivered a powerful speech not just about her own gender transition, but addressing everyone who is going through the same thing. Jenner began her speech by keeping things light, “I’ve never felt more pressure than I ever have felt in my life than over the last couple of months, picking out this outfit. OK girls, I get it.” Jenner obviously works well under pressure as she stunned in a white long sleeved silk Atelier Versace gown. Even in her documentary set to come out July 26 entitled I am Cait, an eight-part series following Caitlyn’s adjustment to her “new normal” as she puts it, Caitlyn jokes about learning the ins and outs of being a female. As she plays tennis Caitlyn comes upon a realization saying “Now I know why girls need a sports bra.” Many of the trailers for the upcoming series shed light on Jenner simply adjusting to all of the different pressures women face in regards to their physical appearance.

Jenner’s speech quickly shifted from light and playful to addressing the real issue that brought her to the stage in the first place. She points out that “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 beat up, they’re getting murdered and they’re committing suicide.” Jenner goes on to talk about specific transgender young people that have lost their lives due to the lack of support they felt they had or because of a world that refused to accept them for who they were.

Many people have mocked Caitlyn Jenner for her choice to transition and have even claimed it as a publicity stunt but Jenner doesn’t shy away from those comments as she has a bit of a superhero moment and identifies that “with attention comes responsibility.” She makes it clear that she recognizes her position and the power that she holds for the transgender community and to be an ambassador for those who don’t know or don’t understand it. “If you want to call me names, makes 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.” Jenner is clearly ready to be the face of a very misunderstood and unaccepted group.

Things definitely took a very emotional turn as she began to thank her family explaining “The biggest fear I always had about coming out is I never wanted to hurt anyone else, most of all my family and my kids. I always wanted my children to be so proud of their dad.”

Jenner’s best message of the night was that “Trans people deserve something vital, 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.”

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