Bruce Jenner is now Caitlyn Jenner.
The Olympic gold medalist and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star, who first confirmed in April that she is transitioning into a woman, has made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair, shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Jenner is also profiled in the magazine's July issue, her first print interview and photo shoot since going public. In the article Jenner talks to "Friday Night Lights" author Buzz Bissinger, who was given full access to Jenner and her family. These first images of Jenner as Caitlyn were taken in her Malibu home.
"If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, 'You just blew your entire life,'" Jenner says in the far-ranging interview that touches on her surgeries to date (two nose adjustments, a tracheal shave, facial-feminization procedures and breast augmentation), family reaction to the revelation, and her upcoming E! network docu-series, which the four children from Jenner's first two marriages have refused to participate in.
Also revealed is the first time Caitlyn Jenner will appear at a public event. On July 15 she will be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at ESPN's ESPYs in Los Angeles. Past winners include Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, and Billie Jean King. According to Vanity Fair, all 10 of Jenner's children and stepchildren are expected to be onstage when she accepts the honor.
"By sharing her journey with the world, Caitlyn Jenner is accelerating acceptance of transgender people everywhere and reminds us all how important it is to live as your most authentic self," GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement in response to the Vanity Fair cover story.
U.S. & World
Jenner, 65, first publicly declared her decision to live as a woman in a frank interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC's "20/20" that aired April 24. She admits the televised interview–watched with Jenner's children and ex-wives–was tough viewing, but also exciting to finally get the hidden truth "off my chest."
Bruce Jenner, she says in Vanity Fair, was "always telling lies." Caitlyn Jenner, she adds, "doesn't have any lies."
Jenner says the day the website TMZ went public with news of her tracheal shave surgery in 2014–despite direct pleas not to–she contemplated suicide with a gun kept in the Malibu home. Deciding not to go through with it, Jenner explains it was then she realized it was time to go public with her transition.
"The uncomfortableness of being me never leaves all day long," Jenner says in the article. "I'm not doing this to be interesting. I'm doing this to live."
About the same time as Vanity Fair's cover appeared online, Caitlyn Jenner's verified Twitter account surfaced and has already garnered almost 800,000 followers. Jenner's first tweet: "I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me."
Jenner's daughter Kendal and stepchildren Kim and Khloe Kardashian were quick to take to social media with messages of support following the reveal.
