Caitlyn Jenner – the Olympic gold medalist, reality TV star, and failed GOP California gubernatorial candidate – said that trans women aren’t really women in an interview with British anti-trans actor John Cleese where she complained about how other trans people tend not to like her.
She spoke on Cleese’s The Dinosaur Hour about her opposition to what she called “the woke movement.”
“I just think the woke movement has just gone too far,” she said. “I can be fair and not be woke. I can be a caring person and not be woke. You know, I care about people, that’s why I do what I do.”
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Jenner then talked about her coming out process, saying that she tried to transition in a “dignified way” for the sake of “trans people in general.” But instead of thanks, all Jenner got was criticism for being a Republican, she complained.
“I get [flak] from- most of it’s all from the trans community,” she said. “I’ve never had a problem in general. You know there’s the whole bathroom thing, and I have not been in a men’s room in eight years. OK?”
“I get a lot of flak from mostly trans people who don’t like that I’m a Republican, I support President Trump.”
Then Jenner brought up anti-trans activist Riley Gaines – the University of Kentucky swimmer who tied for fifth place with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas – and called her a “good friend.” Jenner said that Gaines has faced protests as she toured college campuses to advocate against transgender equality.
“She has had trans people just literally come after her, hit her, as she said, there was a guy in a dress, and it was videotaped, and you could hear them in the background, these trans women, yelling, you know, ‘Trans women are real women’ and on and on and on,” Jenner said, showing her contempt for the chant. “Making fools of themselves, OK? And that’s not good.”
“I see these, ‘trans women are real women,’ no you’re not. OK, that’s the bottom line,” she continued. “I had everything changed. Birth certificate, gender marker F, OK? Everything’s changed. Driver’s license, I’m a pilot, pilot’s license, you name every piece of- everything that’s in my name is legally Caitlyn Marie Jenner, gender marker F, OK?”
“So I live my life as a woman but I’m not- I don’t consider myself this- ‘I am a woman now!’ and on and on,” she said in a mocking tone. “No, I consider myself a trans person.”
Despite her statement that she has never gotten “flak” from Republicans, she has been heckled in person and mocked online by her fellow Republicans. She has also talked about how Republican leaders didn’t want to be seen in public with her when she ran for governor.
Cleese also has a history of opposing transgender equality. In 2020, he claimed he now identifies as a “Cambodian police woman” to mock trans people’s identities as he defended author J.K. Rowling’s transphobic statements.
