Trans activists give Jenner’s political bid a ‘hard pass’
Though Caitlyn Jenner is one of the most famous transgender people in America, the announcement of her candidacy for California governor was greeted hostilely by one of the state’s largest LGBTQ-rights groups and by many trans activists around the country.
“Make no mistake: we can’t wait to elect a #trans governor of California,” tweeted Equality California. “But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass.”
Jenner — the former Olympic decathlon gold medallist and reality TV personality — is a Republican and supported Trump in 2016. She later criticised his administration for some discriminatory actions against transgender people, but has failed to convince many trans-rights advocates that she is a major asset to their cause.
“Caitlyn Jenner is a deeply unqualified hack who doesn’t care about anyone but herself,” tweeted trans activist Charlotte Clymer.
Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transgender writer and professor at Barnard College, appeared on multiple episodes of Jenner’s TV show, IAm Cait and considers her a friend. But she’s not an admirer of her politics. “I wish her well personally. But I can’t see how the conservative policies she is likely to embrace will help Californians.”
Some activists found reason to welcome Jenner’s announcement, saying it was further evidence that transgender Americans are running for office more frequently. Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen of the National Centre for Transgender Equality Action Fund noted that in the 2020 election, Sarah McBride of Maryland became the first openly trans person elected to a state Senate seat and Stephanie Byers of Kansas became the first openly trans Native American elected to a state legislature.
Attorney Sasha Buchert, codirector of the Transgender Rights Project at the LGBTQ-rights group Lambda Legal, said when the public sees transgender people in public life, it “serves to expand public awareness of the reality and diversity of trans lives. It matters to us what policies candidates support — and what their track record might be — on a full range of issues, not just trans rights and inclusion. That is the lens one should always use in evaluating any candidate, including Caitlyn Jenner.”