Caitlyn Jenner continues to make headlines since she emerged as a transgender woman — this time as a recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPY Awards last Wednesday.
Arthur Ashe was an African-American tennis champion who found success in a predominately white sport. Although his namesake award is focused on sports, this honor is not limited to sports-related achievements.
“The award is inspired by the life that Ashe lived, using his fame and stature to advocate for human rights, although, at the time, those positions may have been unpopular and were often controversial,” according to the ESPY’s website.
Jenner received the award, not only for her accomplishments as an Olympian, but for her public role in the transgender community. And with a stunning white gown to capture our eyes and moving words to capture our hearts, Jenner reminded us of why she was given an award honoring courage to begin with.
“If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is, I can take it,” Jenner said to the audience and viewers. “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.”
I felt my eyes begin to water and my throat choke up as I listened to the rest of her inspirational speech. Scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed rendered the same reaction, but not in a good way.
Some people were angry because they felt army veteran Noah Galloway, an amputee athlete, deserved it more. Some used the award as a platform to proclaim their homophobic opinions. But this isn’t what I found to be most disappointing. It was the belittling of her accomplishments in one snarky statement — “All she did was put on a dress.”
The sad reality is transgender youth are reportedly harming themselves because they live in a society that does not accept them. Ash Haffner, 16, Mercedes Williamson, 17, and Sam Taub, 15, are among the transgender teens that have died or taken their own lives because they were not accepted.
According to a study conducted by The Williams Institute, in collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 46 percent of trans men reported that they had attempted suicide in their lifetime. Under this context, 42 percent of trans women and 44 percent of female-assigned crossdressers reported the same thing.
Critics of Jenner are the very force she is trying to combat. She is a transgender woman who went through a struggle of accepting her own identity out of a real, legitimate fear of how the public would react. She didn’t do it for herself, she did it for the transgender community.
“This transition has been harder on me than anything I could imagine. And that’s the case for so many others besides me,” Jenner said. “For that reason alone, 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.”
Susan B. Anthony did not just collect petition signatures. Rosa Parks did not just sit in the front of a bus. Caitlyn Jenner did not just put on a dress. Caitlyn Jenner put on a dress in an ugly world that did not want to see her in a dress — and that’s pretty courageous.
Zoe Geauthreaux is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from New Orleans.