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Caitlyn Jenner At ESPYs: Transgender People 'Deserve Your Respect'

Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during the 2015 ESPYs at Microsoft Theater on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter
/
Getty Images
Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during the 2015 ESPYs at Microsoft Theater on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Caitlyn Jenner is on a mission. Accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs Wednesday night, she said she will be turning to advocating for transgender people.

"Trans people ... deserve your respect," she told the gathering of famous athletes.

In a video produced for the award ceremony, Jenner said she had come to a "revelation": "Out of all the things that I have done in my life, that maybe this is my calling." She added, "Maybe I can bring understanding on this subject. It's time that I do my best."

Jenner made her transition to being a woman public in an interview with Diane Sawyer in April. In a Vanity Fair article published in June, Jenner — the famous track and field athlete once known as Bruce — announced, "Call me Caitlyn."

"With attention comes responsibility," Jenner said in her acceptance speech Wednesday night. She spoke of transgender teens struggling around the country.

"It's not just about me. It's about all of us accepting one another," she said. "We're all different. That's not a bad thing."

Watch the video:

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Dana Farrington is a digital editor coordinating online coverage on the Washington Desk — from daily stories to visual feature projects to the weekly newsletter. She has been with the NPR Politics team since President Trump's inauguration. Before that, she was among NPR's first engagement editors, managing the homepage for NPR.org and the main social accounts. Dana has also worked as a weekend web producer and editor, and has written on a wide range of topics for NPR, including tech and women's health.

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