In an interview with Diane Sawyer today, Bruce Jenner has confirmed that he is a transgender woman.
As was expected, the former Olympian and father of six sat down with the talk show host to exclusively confirm his “transgender journey”.
“For all intents and purposes, I am a woman,” said Jenner, “My brain is much more female than it is male…it’s hard for people to understand that, but that’s what my soul is.”
In what was a symbolic and “freeing” interview, Bruce takes out his ponytail to reveal his long hair and confirms this interview will be the last “farewell” to ‘Bruce’.
Jenner also states in the interview that, until he has unveiled his new identity and his preferred new name and pronouns, his request would be that media outlets and news reporters continue using the “familiar” pronouns of “him” and “he”. Out of respect for Bruce and for his bravery, The Weekly will comply with those wishes.
The revealing interview lasted two hours, and in it, Bruce discusses his journey from man to woman, which he says started in the ‘80s. The stepfather to celebrity family the Kardashians said that he underwent almost five years of transitioning and hormone replacement therapies after he separated from his second wife in the 80s, but was forced to stop when his decision was met with backlash, from his friends and his sister. As well as this, Bruce wanted to avoid being a ‘failure’ to his children and decided to cease his transition.
“I didn’t want to disappoint people,” he says in the interview, “[I was] running away from my life, running away from who I was.”
But at 65, Bruce was unwilling to go on living a “lie”.
“Bruce lives a lie — she is not a lie,” he said to Diane, “I can’t do it anymore.”
But despite the past negativity, Jenner’s decision has now been met with support and love by his family. His daughters by Kris Jenner, Kendall and Kylie, both tweeted and instagrammed their support this evening, and there has been an outcry of encouragement from the wider community.
Confirming in the interview, Bruce says he is happy and ready to move forward.
“It’s going to be an emotional roller coaster but I’m going to make it through. I’ve been thinking about this day forever and what I should do with my life,” he says, “How do I tell my story? How do I tell people what I’ve been through? I’ve been thinking about this day forever.”
