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June 2, 2015

Caitlyn Jenner Breaks Internet Record with Unveiling of Transgender Identity 
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And the Olympic gold medalist and reality TV show star formerly known as
Bruce Jenner has broken Internet records following the unveiling of a
Vanity Fair cover story about her new identity as a woman. Caitlyn
Jenner is the former step-parent of the Kardashian sisters. She
announced her transition to living as a woman earlier this year, before
unveiling her new name and appearance in Vanity Fair. After her first
Twitter post Monday, Jenner broke a world record by garnering a million
followers in just four hours; President Obama took a little under five
hours to hit the same benchmark. Chase Strangio of the ACLU noted,
"Telling [Caitlyn Jenner's] story with care means using the right name
and pronoun, but it also means highlighting the extent to which it is
not the typical trans story. ... For example, the facial feminization
surgery that Caitlyn describes in Vanity Fair is almost universally
excluded from [health insurance] coverage." Jenner's transition comes as
a new U.N. report details "pervasive violent abuse" against LGBT people
around the world, with hundreds of hate-related killings in the past few
years.

 

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