One of the biggest stories this season in the world of pop culture finally made its debut last week: Bruce Jenner and his coming out story. Jenner sat down with ABC’s Diane Sawyer this past weekend with his story, which Jenner had hid in the dark for years.
In the beginning of the interview, Jenner sat down with Sawyer and wholeheartedly admitted, “You know what? It’s going to be tough. I’ve been thinking about this day forever. What should I do with my life? How do I tell my story? How do I tell people, you know, what I’ve been through?”
Grabbing a tissue, she continued, “And that day is today. But here I am, I’m still here, that’s the good news.
“I would say I have been confused about my gender identity since I was this big,” he said as she  gestured to an imaginary height of a child. “I have had to explain it to all of my children, and the way I explained was that God once was making little Bruce and wondered what He would do with him. He would be a smart kid, very determined. Finally, when He was almost finished, He realized that everybody has something in their life that they have to deal with. So let’s give him the soul of a female and see how he deals with that.
“I honestly hate the terminology ‘a woman stuck in a man’s body,’” Jenner said. Sawyer responded, “Why?”
“I’m not stuck,” Jenner explained. “I am who I am. This is me as a human being.”
After a few minutes in the interview, Bruce asked to take his hair down, which he did.
“Are you a woman?” Diane Sawyer asked.
“Yes, for all intents and purposes, I am a woman,” Jenner said. “People look at me differently and see me as this ‘macho man.’ However, my soul and heart is a part of me. It is who I am. It is very difficult for me to say because I do not want to disappoint people.”
Jenner went on to explain that the worst situation was when her car was bugged with a tracking device, and she had an appointment to have her Adam’s apple shaved down and somebody leaked the appointment. There were cameras waiting for her at the doctor’s office. She admitted to contemplating suicide, but realized she needed to see how her story would end.
Sawyer reached out to all three of Jenner’s ex-wives. Kris Jenner, her third and most recent ex-wife, had no comment; her second wife, Linda Thompson, gave her support and said she hopes people will be ready to “exercise kindness to those who may perceive as different,” and, finally, her first wife, Christie Scott, said, “I support him and so hope the world can, too. I pray for his happiness for the rest of his journey.”
The first child she told was her son Brandon Jenner. When asked how he is handling his father’s transition, Brandon said, “It’s not necessarily easy. I’m not handling this perfectly. It’s a little shocking at first to see my dad as a woman, but I’m trying to do my best to cope with what’s going on.”
Finally taken to the Twitter pages of the ”Kardashian Klan,” all five sisters, mother Kris Jenner and Rob Kardashian shared their support for Jenner. Kim’s ex-husband, Kris Humphries, took it upon himself to say, “Man, I’m glad I got out when I did.” He later apologized, claiming that he has always and will always support Jenner.
According to E! News, Kim Kardashian is the most supportive; however, Khloe Kardashian is taking the transition the hardest because she has had the most losses in her life from her late father, Robert Kardashian, passing away to her divorce from her ex-husband Lamar Odom. The family of reality TV personalities and stars of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” have called Bruce their hero.
“This interview was done in such a way that showed the true sides of a reality TV star,” Alexis Jones, a sophomore health science major, said. “Bruce Jenner is extremely courageous in my eyes because he comes from this picture-perfect family and was able to come out on national television and be his true self, even though he is known for being the Kardashians’ dad.”