Caitlyn Jenner has been named one of Glamour’s Women of the Year, which has caused some backlash. Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive has since defended the magazine’s decision to honor her.
Jenner, who just celebrated her 66th birthday but considers it her “first” birthday, talked about being a champion for the transgender community inside the issue.
“I started thinking, Maybe this is why God put me on earth," she told Glamour. "This issue has been swept under the rug for so long. I need to tell this story on the highest level you can possibly do it. Not just for me but for this entire community."
After getting her Adam’s apple shaved down and still living as Bruce Jenner, Caitlyn said she contemplated suicide when the paparazzi discovered her at the doctor’s office after the procedure.
"Go in there, no more pain," she remembered thinking about keeping a gun in one of her rooms. But the next day, "I thought, 'OK, you transition, big deal! You are still alive. You have to make your life interesting.' "
Since the Twitter backlash about Jenner being one of the honorees, her rep told The AP, "Where there is hateful chatter on Twitter, there is just as much, if not more, love and support. We prefer to focus on the positive."
Leive also addressed the criticism, telling the AP it "certainly gives you an appreciation for the hostility to the trans community that still exists out there."