I’m a white cisgendered lady. I’m not a “source close to Bruce Jenner.” But here’s what I do know: We need to stop asking questions about “what is going on” with Bruce.
Bruce Jenner is a person. He’s a person who has a platform to say something if he wants to. And so far, he hasn’t wanted to. That’s his business. So far, the speculation about his appearance has been almost entirely from invasive paparazzi taking photos of him from behind bushes, through windows, while he is running errands. Tabloids have documented medical procedures after being flatly told that he was “absolutely not” transitioning. His family has offered up their lives as entertainment, but Jenner still deserves privacy.
Maybe he is transitioning to female. Maybe he is happily male. Maybe he is somewhere in the vast gray area between those two things.
And we know better. We know how difficult it is to be a transgendered person in this country. We know how deeply personal any coming-out story is. We fumble — Jill Soloway, creator of the groundbreaking and award-winning Transparent, posted a meme that was offensive to the trans community and also to Bruce Jenner, and she has since apologized for it — but we need to try. Let’s let Bruce Jenner keep this part of his life private, whatever it is, since even the anonymous sources claiming to give away his secrets are saying he desperately desires that privacy. Let’s be better. Let’s let him tell his own story, whatever it may be.
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