Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner (born October 28, 1949) is an American former track and field athlete and current television personality.

Jenner came to international attention when, while still identifying as a man, she won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal. Subsequently she starred in several made-for-TV movies and was briefly Erik Estrada's replacement on the TV series CHiPs.

Jenner was married for nearly 24 years to Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian); the couple and their children appeared beginning in 2007 on the television reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Following her divorce in 2015, Jenner came out in a television interview as a woman, initially preferring male pronouns until her transition was more complete. On June 1, 2015, Jenner revealed her new name, Caitlyn, and her use of she/her pronouns officially. Many news sources have described Jenner as the most famous openly transgender American.

Early life
Caitlyn Jenner was born on October 28, 1949, in Mount Kisco, New York, the child of Esther R. (née McGuire) and William Hugh Jenner, a tree surgeon. Jenner has two sisters, Lisa and Pam, while her younger brother, Burt, was killed in a car accident in Canton, Connecticut, shortly after Jenner's success at the Olympics. Jenner was also diagnosed with dyslexia as a young child.

She attended Sleepy Hollow High School in Sleepy Hollow, New York, during her freshman and sophomore years, and then Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut, during his junior and senior years, graduating in 1968. Jenner earned a football scholarship and attended Graceland College (now Graceland University) in Lamoni, Iowa, but was forced to stop playing football and switch to the decathlon due to a knee injury. Graceland's track coach and Jenner's mentor, L. D. Weldon, was the first to recognize Jenner's potential and encouraged the youngster to pursue the decathlon. Jenner debuted in the decathlon at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa in 1970, placing fifth. Jenner graduated from Graceland College in 1973 with a degree in physical education.

Personal life
Jenner is a Christian, leans politically conservative, and is a Republican. Her first marriage was to Chrystie Scott (née Crownover) from 1972 to 1981. They have two children, son Burton and daughter Cassandra, known as Burt and Casey respectively. Jenner and Scott's divorce was finalized the first week of January 1981. The same week, on January 5, 1981, Jenner married her second wife, actress Linda Thompson, at the Oahu, Hawaii, home of film producer Allan Carr. By February 1986, Jenner and Thompson had separated, and they subsequently divorced. Jenner and Thompson have two sons together, Brandon and Sam Brody, known as Brody. The two sons starred on the reality show The Princes of Malibu. Brody Jenner was also on the reality show The Hills.

Jenner married her third wife, Kris Kardashian (née Houghton), on April 21, 1991, after five months of dating. They have two daughters, Kendall and Kylie. Caitlyn Jenner was also the stepmother to Kris' four children from her previous marriage to the late lawyer Robert Kardashian: Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian and Rob Kardashian. The couple announced their separation in October 2013, though they had actually separated a year earlier. Kris filed for divorce in September 2014, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce terms were finalized in December 2014 and went into effect on March 23, 2015, due to a six-month state legal requirement.

In February 2015, Jenner was involved in a multiple-vehicle collision on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. The accident caused one death, and eight others were injured. Jenner was able to walk away from the accident. The stepchildren of the deceased filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jenner in relation to the incident.

Gender Transition
In an April 24, 2015 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer, Jenner shared that she is a trans and has dealt with gender dysphoria since her youth. She said that for all intents and purposes, "I’m a woman." Jenner began a physical transition in the 1980s with hormone replacement therapy, but quit after meeting Kris Kardashian in the early 1990s. While Jenner preferred to be seen as male until she revealed her trans side publicly, On June 1, 2015, Jenner revealed her new name, Caitlyn, and her use of she/her pronouns officially. Her transition is also the subject of an eight-part documentary series starting July 2015. While she has undergone some cosmetic surgery as part of transitioning, she has not ruled out gender reassignment surgery, and feels life as a woman is primarily a matter of mental state and lifestyle. She said she has never been attracted to men and has always been heterosexual, but currently identifies as a lesbian.

Jenner's announcement came at an unprecedented time for trans visibility, including legislative initiatives. The 20/20 interview had 20.7 million viewers, making it television's "highest-ever rated newsmagazine telecast among adults 18–49 and adults 25–54." Using examples of how comedians had changed in their talking about Jenner's transition, The Daily Beast saw the change as the same evolution that took place in acceptance of LGBT people as a whole when "comedians finally cross the critical threshold from mockery to creativity in their joke-telling."

Prior to Jenner's 20/20 interview, a two-part special titled Keeping Up with the Kardashians: About Bruce was filmed with the family to answer questions and prepare the children for personal and public aspects of the transition. The episodes aired in May 2015 and emphasized a point made in the 20/20 prelude that there is no one right way of transitioning for all who do so and for Caitlyn she felt she had to ensure all her kids were independent first before focusing inward in this way. Premiering the new her, as Jenner has referred to her emerging gender identity, will be done with a photo spread and interview including a cover shot by Annie Leibovitz to be released in Summer 2015 of Vanity Fair.

The Vanity Fair cover was revealed online on June 1, 2015, featuring a photo of Jenner with the title, "Call me Caitlyn." Jenner also released a new verified Twitter handle, @Caitlyn_Jenner, tweeting the cover and the message, "I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world, Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know me."