Caitlyn Jenner Recalls 'Getting Destroyed' Before Her Transition
She was honored with an award on Monday night.
— -- Caitlyn Jenner opened up about the struggles with her transition while being honored as a Glamour “Woman of the Year” at Monday night’s award ceremony, detailing how she decided to tell those closest to her.
"I sat down with each one of my 10 children; and it was the big secret in the family that nobody could talk about because I was getting destroyed in the tabloids every week, walking through the grocery line, looking at the headlines. And so were my children. It was hurtful," she said during her acceptance speech.
Jenner’s children weren’t the only ones in whom she confided before going public with her Diane Sawyer interview in April.
"I sat down with my pastor, talked to him about my issues. And, yes, I had a lot of conversations with God," she said Monday night. "I came to the conclusion that, you know what? Maybe this is why God put me on this earth; to tell my story. To be authentic to myself about who I am. And maybe in doing that, maybe you can make a difference in the world. What a great opportunity in life to have."
Jenner, wearing a custom Jeremy Scott off-the-shoulder evening gown, said, "never in a million years" did she think she would ever be honored with a ‘Woman of the Year’ award, and joked to the crowd, "I'm sure you didn't either."
Another new experience she said she has faced in the past several months since going public is a barrage of questions she never expected.
"All of a sudden, all these new questions came into my life. People were going, ‘What's your style? What are you going to wear? Who are your heroes? Are you a feminist?’ All these questions, and I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I've got so much to learn,’" she said.
Jenner, 66, also detailed the perks of the latest step in her transition: a new driver’s license.
Jenner said that she had stopped traveling "on the airlines" for much of the last year since she did not have "authentic" identification, but that all changed last week when she got her new driver’s license.
"Picture and gender marker ‘F’! So it's always the little things in life that really you notice," Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, said. "And I'm sitting on the plane and for the first time reading Glamour magazine and not having to fold the cover over so nobody could see what actually I was reading. ... It was absolutely great."
Her daughter Kylie Jenner was in the crowd during her speech and posed for photos with her after she received the trophy. The 18-year-old reality star explained in a later Instagram post that Kylie’s more casual look was the result of "some major wardrobe malfunctions" but "that couldn't stop me from supporting the ones I love."
Jenner was one of eight recipients at the awards ceremony, including Reese Witherspoon, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, tech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, Victoria Beckham, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards and ballerina Misty Copeland.
The only honorees to get a standing ovation, however, were likely the least-known: four women affected by the shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, were honored for their willingness to forgive the shooter who killed their relatives in June.
Related Stories
ABC News Live