I think the LGBT community is fortunate in that the first truly huge mainstream star to come out as trans happens to be a person who is using her identity to help others—I Am Cait, if you have not watched, is as unsensational as can be, with a lot of focus on education. Probably so much of a focus on education that the series won't last—it lacks sizzle. (No thanks to Candis Cayne, who deserves her own series! She is human sizzle.)
But I also think the LGBT community is unfortunate in that that same first truly huge mainstream star to come out as trans happens to be a conservative.
When Bruce Jenner told Diane Sawyer he wasn't a fan of President Obama and expressed surprise over the president's inclusiveness on trans issues, it was a red flag to many; how out of touch can a person be? Well, money can be a one-way ticket away from reality, and reality TV is, of course, another.
During the course of I Am Cait, Caitlyn has shown signs of budging on issues, but of course famously expressed the right-wing belief that people who desperately need help are lazy if they get it. (Sure, a percentage of people receiving social services are people who don't need and are abusing it, but the majority of them are people who fucking need it, bitch.)
Now, even though on her own show she expressed happiness when SCOTUS ruled in favor of gay marriage, Caitlyn is singing a different tune to Ellen DeGeneres, saying she is just okay with gay marriage after having been opposed to it for many years.
Is that a genuine evolution? It sounds a lot more begrudging than that.
I think it's important to see Caitlyn as a fierce advocate ... for trans issues. Not for all LGBT issues.
I would hope that gay people can continue being fierce advocates for her and her rights even though she is not as reliable when it comes to ours, if only because she is an anomaly when it comes to trans people—a right-leaning traditionalist.
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