Caitlyn Jenner, a conservative Republican and transgender rights advocate, has said she will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, Us Weekly magazine reported Tuesday.
In response, transgender rights supporters to her left are blasting Ms. Jenner’s decision as evidence she doesn’t have the interests of transgendered Americans at heart.
“Caitlyn claims she wants to use her platform as a means for change, but attending Trump’s inauguration would be the biggest signal yet that she has no plans to look out for anyone but herself,” wrote Eliza Thompson Tuesday on Cosmpolitan magazine’s website.
“Caitlyn Jenner is attending Trump’s inauguration. That woman makes me sick. (Again!),” complained Twitter user @TransEthics, an account that describes itself as “Celebrating the badassness that is trans people, from sex work to activism.”
A conservative Republican, Ms. Jenner initially expressed support for Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican primaries, although she insisted at the time it was not an outright endorsement.
“I never said that I endorsed Ted Cruz. I said I like him. He is a constitutionalist and I think we have to get our country back to something like that,” she said, CNN reported in March.
But, she added, “[o]ut of all the candidates, I also feel that as far as the LGBT community, [Sen. Cruz] would probably be the worst and need the most help[.]”
Ms. Jenner was a featured speaker at the Republican convention in July, where she told the delegates, “It was easy to come out as trans, it was harder to come out as Republican,” according to Entertainment Tonight.
In an interview the following month, Ms. Jenner told an interviewer that while she was not endorsing Mr. Trump, as a constitutional conservative she generally agrees with the GOP on policy issues and hopes to shift the party’s stands on transgender issues.
“I am here, since I’m on the Republican side, to help the entire Republican party do a better job when it comes to LBGT issues,” she said on HBO’s “Any Given Wednesday,” Entertainment Tonight reported at the time. “I have kind of positioned myself with the Republican Party to try to help these people understand. [To help] the Republican Party understand what the issues are for the LBGT community.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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