Caitlyn Jenner admits she was wrong.
On Thursday, the former I Am Cait star penned an op-ed for The Washington Post in response to a leaked memo from Donald Trump‘s administration saying the government is considering legally defining gender based on the genitalia a person is born with. Many believe this could negatively affect the civil rights protections for transgender individuals.
Related: Caitlyn Jenner Finally Addresses Her Relationship With Sophia Hutchins!
In the piece, the transgender advocate — who voted for Trump in the 2016 election — initially believed the Republican Party would stand up for the LGBTQ community. However, Jenner acknowledges this is not the case.
The 68-year-old wrote:
“Sadly, I was wrong. The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president. The leader of our nation has shown no regard for an already marginalized and struggling community. He has ignored our humanity. He has insulted our dignity. He has made trans people into political pawns as he whips up animus against us in an attempt to energize the most right-wing segment of his party, claiming his anti-transgender policies are meant to ‘protect the country.’ This is politics at its worst. It is unacceptable, it is upsetting, and it has deeply, personally hurt me.”‘
While the Olympian believed she could personally work with the GOP to help the trans community, she now realizes it was all a “mistake.”
“Believing that I could work with Trump and his administration to support our community was a mistake. The recently leaked Department of Health and Human Services memo that suggests — preposterously and unscientifically — that the government ought to link gender to one’s genitalia at birth is just one more example in a pattern of political attacks. One doesn’t need to look back far to witness the president assault our nation’s guardians with a ban on trans people serving in the military or assail our nation’s future with a rollback of Obama-era protections for trans schoolchildren. It’s clear these policies have come directly from Trump, and they have been sanctioned, passively or actively, by the Republicans by whose continued support he governs. My hope in him — in them — was misplaced, and I cannot support anyone who is working against our community. I do not support Trump. I must learn from my mistakes and move forward.”
Despite her “misplaced” support of Trump, Jenner is determined — more than ever — to “bring trans issues to the fore of our social and political conversation, domestically and abroad,” adding:
“I need to listen more to the members of the LGBTQ community and to learn more. I need to better use my voice, my privilege and my foundation to advocate and support our community. I must continue to educate political and corporate leaders about the issues of homelessness, job discrimination, violence, access to health care, prejudice in housing, depression, suicide and so many other issues that disproportionately affect our long-ignored community. I will still work with anyone who is committed to help our community. The world needs to hear us. The world needs to know us. We will not be erased.”
In July 2017, the President tweeted a plan to disallow transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military.
Read Caitlyn’s full piece HERE.
[Image via FayesVision/WENN.]
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