Caitlyn Jenner on Tuesday apologized
for controversial comments she made in a recent interview with TIME.
“I think it's much easier for a trans
woman or a trans man who authentically kind of looks and plays the
role,” the I Am Cait star said in a TIME
profile. “So what I call my presentation, I try to take that
seriously. I think it puts people at ease. If you look like a man
in a dress, it makes people uncomfortable.”
Jenner was heavily criticized on social
media for the comment, with some claiming that she was projecting her
own internalized transphobia.
In an open letter published on her
website, Jenner apologized.
“My first reaction was to feel hurt,
to wish people would give me more credit for having a big heart, and
to know I don't have a mean bone in my body,” Jenner wrote in Still
So Much To Learn. “But as I've thought about it, I guess
I've come to understand that maybe I have made some mistakes, and I
need to make my real feelings more clear.”
“What I was trying to say is that our
world really is still a binary one, and that people who look 'visibly
transgender' sometimes can struggle for acceptance and may be treated
poorly by others. And while this may be true, it's also something
that needs to change.”
Earlier this year, Jenner was
criticized for her conservative views on marriage equality.
(Related: Ellen
DeGeneres: Caitlyn Jenner “still has a judgment about gay
marriage.”)
She promised to “try to be more
articulate in the future.”