By Ellen Chlumecky

April 27, 2015

In this day and age, the world is harsher than ever. Especially with Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, there is more of a chance for people to berate and insult each other. When people want to stand up and stick up for themselves, the world can’t help but stop and stare. These people shouldn’t be mocked, teased, or felt degraded or insulted. These people should be celebrated and felt important for their differences. When former Olympian, Bruce Jenner, revealed to the world on April 24^th that he is a transgender woman, there is was a surprising amount of support not only from his family but also many people working hard for acceptance for the transgender community.

Bruce Jenner won two Amateur Athletic Union decathlons, the Pan-American Games decathlon, a gold medal in Montreal Olympic decathlon, a Sullivan Award, an Associated Press Athlete of the Year. He was also inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and into the Olympic Hall of Fame. He was a talented athlete and an idol to the United States of America in the 70s and the 80s. Young athletes looked up to him and looked at him as a model of someone who was strong and confident. However, even after several years of no longer being an athlete you can see his confidence and his strength in his interview with Diane Sawyer.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/24/media/bruce-jenner-interview-diane-sawyer/

The reason I felt this was so important to write about is the same reason that I believe people who feel they need to be who they are need to be comfortable to do so. Bruce Jenner is one of several athletes who waited till they were done with sports to feel comfortable becoming transgender. Some of these athletes were out of the public eye which is why they felt it was finally acceptable to change genders. Bruce Jenner has a unique situation because of who his family is, the Kardashians.

His marriage to Kris Kardashian brought his whole situation to a larger media scale than it would’ve if he had stayed out of the spotlight. However, I don’t think that he would’ve wanted to change it at all. Bruce Jenner was quoted saying, “We’re going to make a difference in the world with what we’re doing.” Jenner had contemplated suicide because he felt like he was living a lie. As he is coming out to the world, he is showing people how important it is to be who you are because being happy is most important.

He is not only standing up for himself but for all trans, gender-nonconforming, and intersex people. These people want to be happy by being themselves, and I believe that what he’s doing is amazing. He deserves more than just settling. I fully support anyone going through this situation and I believe the sports world should stand behind these people as well.