Caitlyn Jenner accepts 2015 Arthur Ashe Courage Award
July 16, 2015
Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on Wednesday night in Los Angeles as part of the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) ceremony.
Jenner, who won the 1976 Montreal Olympics decathlon as Bruce Jenner, came out as transgender in April, and spoke about the need for transgender acceptance during acceptance speech. It was her first public appearance since coming out.
"If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead - because the reality is, I can take it," said Jenner, 65. "But for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are - they shouldn't have to take it."
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is named for American tennis player Arthur Ashe, who died of AIDS in 1993. It is given annual to people whose "contributions transcend sports;" and in the past, has been awarded it to boxer Muhammad Ali as well as non-athletes like Nelson Mandela.
"I trained hard, I competed hard and for that people respected me, but this transition has been harder on me than anything I could have imagined, and that's the case for so many others besides me," Jenner said. "For that reason alone trans people deserve something vital. They deserve your respect."
Jenner said she was "clear in my responsibility going forward," to "tell my story the right way…(and) to do whatever I can to reshape the landscape of how trans issues are viewed, how trans people are treated, to promote a very simple idea: accepting people for who they are, accepting people differently."
Jenner, who received a standing ovation for her speech, attended the awards with her mother, sister and children, including reality stars Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian and her daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
Other awardees at the event included the World Cup-winning US women's soccer team, retired New York Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter, and basketball players Lebron James and Stephen Curry. Lauren Hill, a 19-year-old college basketball player who died in April of a brain tumor and who was another favorite to win the Ashe award, received the "Best Moment" award.
mes/sms (AFP, Reuters)