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I grew up in a metropolitan area. This fact has afforded me the luxury of knowing people from all walks of life, all genders, all lifestyles, all religions and non-religions, all socioeconomic circumstances, and all political parties. There was a lot of hype and grandstanding around the Diane Sawyer interview with Bruce Jenner…so, very unlike “me”, I decided to record the interview and to watch it AFTER reading and hearing the reactions of my friends
, family, and the public at-large. I wanted to see how others reacted to the interview without any inside knowledge of what was and was not said during the interview.
After viewing comments from both people I know and people I don’t know on social media, I fully expected this interview to be a product of the Kardashian Empire. I expected this interview to be more like a reality show than an interview. I was pleasantly surprised to find that neither of my expectations came to fruition. There has been a lot of coverage of the Transgender community as of late – unfortunately, this coverage has been about beatings, about murders, about families being broken apart by someone simply trying to be true to themselves. It was refreshing to watch someone that millions of people have known for decades being brutally honest about who they are and where they are going.
I started my recording of the interview with the full expectation that I was going to watch maybe 15 minutes and turn it off. I have now watched this interview twice. Yes, twice. I am very impressed with the dignity that Diane Sawyer provided Bruce Jenner. I am impressed with the compassion that Bruce’s family has shown him.
None of us who have watched the interview should have been surprised with the “revelation” that Bruce is transitioning to a woman. The press and paparazzi has made what should have been a private, personal journey for Bruce and his family into a media circus. Yes, he is famous…but that doesn’t mean that every aspect of his life is “fair game” to the media. I sense that Bruce likely did not “want” to do this interview, but he rather “had” to do this interview. However, kudos to Bruce for stepping up to the plate and providing the world with an honest and open account of what is going on in his life. Honestly, I was more surprised to find out that he is conservative and a Republican than that he was Transgender!
This may very well be the turning point for the Transgender community. This has the potential to be the pivotal opportunity for answers and understanding. Society has a tendency to react negatively toward anything that they don’t understand, to react negatively unless, of course, it is someone they know. I will never fully understand that concept in particular. For example, I currently work in a warehouse environment. I work with a bunch of men that, for the most part, had never known anyone who was gay. Imagine their surprise when they came to the realization that they had been working with my partner for many years! It was a little touch-and-go for a few weeks, but once they “got used to it” it has become a non-issue. This is my hope for the Transgender community. I hope that Bruce’s courage coming forward is a catalyst for making this a non-issue.
Live and let live. Love and let love. Be and let be. Understand and be understood. This is my two cents…for what it’s worth.
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