Despite her acclaim when she first came out as trans, Caitlyn Jenner has been slammed by the trans community multiple times.
Caitlyn is one of the world"s most famous transgender women and she was a celebrity well before that, giving her a massive platform. But many in the LGBT community feel that she"s misused it and refused to listen to people who"ve publicly fought for rights longer than she has.
Now, Caitlyn"s been publicly confronted by a very heated trans woman who told her exactly what she thought of her. And it was all caught on video:
In case you need a refresher on why many trans folks feel that Caitlyn Jenner is problematic for the community, remember that Caitlyn voiced support for both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump during the Republican primaries in 2016.
Ted Cruz, of course, is a vocal opponent of transgender rights.
(Caitlyn hoped to advise him on the issue)
Despite having so many flaws that he"s really more of an orange miasma, Donald Trump was really the only GOP hopeful who voiced support for trans rights.
After he said something along the lines of "Caitlyn Jenner can use any bathroom at Trump Tower she likes," Cait took him at his word and stopped by and used the women"s restroom.
In the heat of the bathroom bills, where social conservatives were freaking out because trans people exist and some city governments respect their rights, Trump"s statement was a huge deal.
Caitlyn went on to support Trump and criticize Hillary Clinton even on her series, I Am Cait, to the dismay of her viewers and also to literally all of her costars, including Candis Cayne.
At the time, she did snap a photo with her fellow costars and Hillary Clinton, indicating a willingness to listen to her friends who"ve been fighting for trans rights a lot longer than she has.
But ultimately, Caitlyn was vocally supportive of Trump until only very recently, when Trump (while panicking over dwindling popularity and innumerable scandals) announced his plan to ban transgender folks from the US military.
Trump made that official last Friday, as a Category Four hurricane slammed into Texas and as North Korea launched more missiles, right before taking even more time off.
That"s a move that"s certainly prompted by Mike Pence"s desire for the LGBT community to no longer exist.
Another motive is almost certainly to excite Trump"s base, many are whom are disappointed that he hasn"t actually accomplished anything, for good or ill, that he set out to do while campaigning.
Well, if Caitlyn"s hoping her possible political career will see endorsements from trans women, she has another thing coming.
On Sunday, Cait attended the Trans Chorus event in Los Angeles, where transgender activist and editor Ashlee Marie Preston approached her.
Caitlyn responds, as you"ll see in the video, by going in for a hug, assuming that she"s meeting a fan.
She was not meeting a fan.
And Preston told her exactly what she thinks about Caitlyn"s politics:
"It’s really f–ked up that you continue to support somebody…that does everything with the military, that’s erasing our f–king community. And you support it."
She even directed some words at Caitlyn"s companion, Dena Williams.
"As long as we continue to be the ones that are most impacted by the choices that you make, it is not OK. We are complicit. Taking her money and doing all that? It makes us complicit. It goes against the mission."
The mission being for trans people to be treated like human beings with rights and dignity instead of discriminated against and, too often, murdered.
"How are we gonna fight anyone if she’s giving money to the people that are destroying us?"
That"s a fair question.
When Cait responded: "You don"t know me," Preston responded:
"Yes I do! You"re a f–king fraud and a fake!"
Some criticize Preston for having confronted Caitlyn in public when she was trying to do something else.
We"d ask where else Preston was going to get to speak her mind to Caitlyn Jenner?
Others criticized her for being rude or for being an "angry black woman."
We should remember that gay rights as we know them, and the movement for them, was started by another "angry black trans woman."
Marsha P. Johnson was part of the spark that gave birth to the push that made marriage equality the law of the land, nationwide, just a few years ago.
Not all change can come from politeness, though not all of us are cut out for being confrontational.
