At the winter Television Critics Association presentations, the cast and executive producers of E!’s I Am Cait attended to promote the reality show’s second season. Caitlyn Jenner was on hand to field a bevy of questions ranging from her political beliefs to her obligations as a prominent figure in the LGBT community. Here’s part 1 of the Q&A.
For Caitlyn, so much of the attention has been on some of your missteps in this whole journey so far. What do you think you’ve done right since you’ve come out and this whole journey has started?
Caitlyn Jenner: I talked to all the girls after Season 1, and I asked them what have we accomplished in our first season. And I really felt like we opened up this conversation, that it’s okay to talk about trans issues. Every day of my life since I came out, somebody comes up to me and says, “I have a trans cousin.” “I have a relative.” All of a sudden, it’s okay to talk about this issue. That was, by far, the most probably important thing I think we did in Season 1. For me the experience has been, yes, we opened up this conversation, but in opening it up, there are so many issues in this community that we really need to deal with and to talk about in the future, and that’s what Season 2 is. We wanted to go out and meet the people.
You’ve made it clear that you’re a Republican, and it’s well-documented that your party has worked against the rights of women and the LGBT community, which is your community. Why not just support the political party that supports women’s rights, LGBT rights and gay marriage?
Caitlyn Jenner: Well, I really don’t want to heavily get into politics because, certainly, we have enough politics going on in the United States right now. But it’s kind of I try to tell the girls, it’s kind of good, if the Republicans haven’t been very good on this issue — which I agree, they haven’t been. Certainly the Democrats have been better on this issue — isn’t it good that they have an ally, somebody on the team that can go in there and maybe change their minds? That’s a good thing. That’s kind of the way I look at it.
Ella Giselle: Caitlyn thinks she’s going to win them over.
Caitlyn Jenner: I hope so. I hope so.
Jennifer Finney Boylan: Crossing our fingers.
Caitlyn Jenner: Yes. We have our fingers crossed that we can win them over.
Chandi Moore: No, we don’t. No, we don’t. (Laughter.)
Andrea Metz: I also think that that’s what this season is about. It’s like celebrating the differences of each one of our women, and I think that it really can be an example for they’re kind of a microcosm of what’s going on right now in society with politics and religion and everything, and that’s what I learned on this trip. That’s what Season 2 is all about. It’s really exciting.
Candis Cayne: We get into that a lot during Season 2 and we have these debates. I don’t know if we came to any conclusions, but at least we have the debates.
Caitlyn Jenner: We did. We talked about it, and we love each other still.
Jennifer Finney Boylan: We really did come together. I mean, this is a very diverse group of transgender women, and I think that you see that that’s one thing that I hope people will learn about the transgender community, that we are not one voice. We are many, many voices, and some of us, in fact, oh, my God, are Republicans for now. One of the things that we found this season was that we all, in spite of all our differences, I think we all came together and really found a real genuine affection and love for each other.
Chandi Moore: I thought it was great because I’ve never listened to anything that Republicans had to say.(Laughter.) Just keeping it real. Cait actually said some things that did make a lot of sense, not that it would change my opinion, but it was great to hear it from someone who I trust to tell me about those things and have me be able to look at things a little differently. So a lot of good did come out of hearing about it, but I’m not changing.
You’ve been living your life in the public eye for quite some time now, and [how have you developed a thick skin]? And as a follow up, anything you have to say to Ricky Gervais today?
[…]
Caitlyn Jenner: On Ricky, I think what I’m going to do is call the Golden Globes and see if they need a new host for next year, and we’ll solve that problem. No. There’s yes, there’s criticism out there. I am only a I am not a spokesman for this community, No. 1. I am not. Everybody in the media kind of puts me in that because obviously I’m in the media a lot. But I am only a spokesman for me and my story. I have so much to learn in this community. I have so much to learn about trans issues. I have so much to learn about womanhood. There’s a lot for me to learn. I’m only nine months out now. As far as all the criticism, yes. I do see it. It is tough. I’m very famous for calling people who write articles, calling them after it’s over with, and even the ones that are criticizing me, and my reaction to that was to say to them, “You know what? I think you had some very legitimate points in there, in your article. I thought it was very well written.” I said, “My only criticism of it is you don’t know me. You never talked to me. You don’t know what my intentions are, and you don’t know the type of person that I am. And that was my only criticism. So I’d like to talk to you. Let’s get to know each other.” So that’s pretty much how I’ve handled it up to this point. And these girls have my back, too, by the way.
For Candis Cayne and any of the stars that might want to pop in on it. You are now famous, and you are probably recognized on the street often. What do you think about that? Do you miss your anonymity, however you say that word?
Candis Cayne: Anonymity? I you know, for me, I think just being an open and out there trans woman is hugely important. I don’t get people when people come up to me, they don’t you know, I’ve done a lot of work in television, and it was before, it was, “Oh, you look great,” or “I saw you on that show.” But, now, people are actually coming up to me and thanking me for what I’m doing for the community, and I it’s a really powerful thing to have people say that and know that we are not just making a difference in Los Angeles. We are making a difference around the world. People all over the world have said Caitlyn’s name on their lips, and that never happened before. I mean, I’ve been in this community for 20 years as an open trans woman, and we’ve been fighting the fight, but we are really very happy that Caitlyn decided to come out, and it’s made it a global presence.
Jennifer Finney Boylan: When I was 18, I went to the library at Wesleyan University to learn about people like me, and there was nothing. There was nothing, or what there was was actually wrong. And so it’s true. I think all of us sometimes miss our privacy a little bit, but I know that this visibility brings acceptance. Visibility will help bring about equality. So it may be that we miss our privacy a little bit, but I know that the 18 year old version of me now goes to the library or turns on the E! network, turns on NBC, will see Caitlyn Jenner, will see Candis Cayne, will see Ella Giselle — 18 year old Ella Giselle and will recognize and see there’s someone like me. I exist in the world.
Chandi Moore: I was a little overwhelmed initially, but I’ve been working in the community with trans youth and gender non conforming youth for many years, and so to have someone come up to me inside of an Ulta makeup store while we are looking at eyelashes and tell me, “You are Chandi,” I was really, like, floored by that because I couldn’t take it that she was so sweet, and she just reached out, because she knows I’m a hugger, and she gave me a hug. And, again, like Candis said, she thanked me for putting myself out there and being a voice to help the other cisgender people recognize that trans people exist in this same arena that they do.
Ella Giselle: I wasn’t on Season 1. So I’m a new I’m a new member, but I…
Caitlyn Jenner: And we love her.
Ella Giselle: I experienced Season 1. I was I just graduated well, I say “just graduated,” but it was, like, a year ago, and…
Caitlyn Jenner: That’s from high school.
Ella Giselle: My senior year of high school.
Caitlyn Jenner: Yes.
Ella Giselle: Watching “I Am Cait” that year, and that was the year that Cait came out on “Vanity Fair.” And I just witnessed it was like this legitimizing moment of who I was. I had transitioned over the summer after junior year and come back as myself. The moment Cait came out and the show started, it was almost like I was I was someone, you know. I wasn’t just that person that people didn’t really care to know what was going on or what who I was. But, yeah, I think that having this platform and people being recognized recognizes not just us but the trans community.
[…] What’s the message you want to bring around the world to [] people, and what do you hope to change for people from [your] community?
Caitlyn Jenner: Well, I want to change people’s thinking on this issue. And I am with the greatest group of women you could possibly be with. These are smart, intelligent, fun people to be around, and they need to be represented positively out there. It’s very easy for reporters, for people, to dwell on some of the negative issues, and we certainly do have some really tough issues with suicides, with the murder rate. Last year, we had twice as many murders as we had the year before towards trans women. There are a lot of very serious issues out there. But, with the show, I want people to know that these are normal people, that this happens. This is not an issue that has borders. This is an issue that is global. It is all over the world. I mean, I would love to take, at some point we’ve got to talk to Jeff about this one, but take this show global. I want to see what trans issues are all around the world. I met with Power, Samantha Power, our U.N. ambassador, and had spent two hours with her. It was a great conversation to look and see what the issues are. Ninety out of the 193 member nations in the U.N., it is if you are anywhere in the L, the B, the G, or the T, it is a criminal offense in those countries. You could be put in jail. You could be executed. There are bigger issues on a global basis.