Caitlyn Jenner poses sexy for 'Vanity Fair' cover
Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympic athlete formerly known as Bruce, made her debut as a transgender woman, posing in sexy lingerie on the cover of Vanity Fair.
"Call me Caitlyn," reads the cover headline for the July issue.
The picture, shot by the magazine's longtime star photographer, Annie Leibovitz, and the headline are the only things on the cover, usually crowded with headlines.
Inside is an interview with Jenner by journalist Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights.
Also, she joined Twitter as Caitlyn on Monday, with a "welcome to the world Caitlyn" message.
"I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self," she posted. "Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me."
Within hours, she had more than 500,000 followers and counting. A little over four hours later, she had 1 million followers, thus smashing the record set by President Obama, who joined Twitter on May 18 and reached 1 million followers in under five hours.
(Obama was OK with that: A Twitter account run for him by supporters, Barack Obama, retweeted Jenner's tweet and added, "It takes courage to share your story," it read.)
The last time Jenner was seen in the media was in April with ABC's Diane Sawyer during a two-hour special, when he was still known as Bruce, did not wear women's clothes and declined to disclose the new woman's name.
Jenner, 65, speaks tells Bissinger about her transition, how she kept her sense of herself as a woman secret for nearly seven decades, through three marriages and 10 children and stepchildren.
"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,' " she said.
GLAAD, the civil-rights organization that monitors depictions of gay people in the media, praised Jenner for "accelerating acceptance of transgender people everywhere."
"For a transgender person to step into the world as his or her authentic self is a moment of tremendous freedom," said Nick Adams, GLAAD's tracker of transgender people in the media . "The world can now see what Caitlyn Jenner has always known, that she is — and always has been — a woman."
The build-up to this moment has taken decades for Jenner, but just weeks for most of the world not focused on the celebrity tabloid coverage of Jenner over the past year.
During most of that time, she and her sprawling reality-TV Kardashian clan had mostly denied there was anything going on with the 1976 Olympic gold medal winner in the decathlon, despite dramatic changes in appearance caught by paparazzi and innumerable anonymous leaks to the likes of TMZ.
Instead, Jenner sought to control her own narrative, or as much as possible for someone so famous. The interview with Sawyer, with nearly 14 million people watching, was her coming out, although still as Bruce, when she announced at the start of a two-hour special, "I am a woman."
Now, Leibovitz has captured the proof of the new, authentic reality.
After the ABC interview, praise and tributes to Jenner's courage poured onto social media and regular media, with only a few critical remarks. On Monday, her debut as Caitlyn inspired a similar outpouring.
The tweets and Instagrams of her cover from her daughters and Kardashian stepdaughters were especially poignant and proud.
"How beautiful! Be happy, be proud, live life YOUR way!" wrote Kim Kardashian.
"My angel on earth! #caitlyn" said Kylie Jenner.
"We were given this life because you were strong enough to live it! I couldn't be prouder!!! Caitlyn, You are beautiful!!!" posted Khloe Kardashian.
The Vanity Fair July issue hits digital newsstands on June 9 and real newsstands on June 16.
Jenner will get a chance to present herself to an even bigger audience in July: ESPN announced that Jenner will be presented with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, presented annually to individuals whose contributions transcend sports. The award will be presented at the 2015 ESPYS, celebrating major sports achievements, airing July 15, at 8:00 p.m., ET on ABC from Los Angeles.
"In the past few months, the overwhelming outpouring of support from all over the world for my journey has been incredible," Jenner said in a statement. "However, being honored with this award, which is named after one of my heroes, is truly special. For the first time this July, I will be able to stand as my true self in front of my peers."
