The TV personality looks back on coming out in an exclusive outtake from the HBO documentary 'The Trans List.'
In April 2015, over 20 million people watched Caitlyn Jenner
-- still known then to the public as Bruce -- come out as transgender to Diane
Sawyer in a 20/20 interview special,
becoming one of the most high-profile transgender personalities in the U.S. (It
was a month later that Jenner debuted her name and physical transformation on
the cover of Vanity Fair.)
The interview was not only a huge moment for the transgender
community, but also for Jenner and her family, who sat beside her to watch the
special unfold on TV. “Alright, so there I am. I’m sitting on this couch and
Diane Sawyer is coming on. My young kids, especially Kendall and Kylie, they
don’t want anybody to hurt their daddy,” Jenner recalls in an exclusive outtake
from HBO’s new documentary The Trans List,
premiering on Monday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. ET.
MORE: Transgender Women Share Their Personal Stories With ET Special Correspondent Janet Mock
“Now, I’m sitting on the couch with all my girls --
Kourtney, Kimberly, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie -- this is by far the most social
media family in the world. They can sit there with their little phones and
reach 140 million people all over the world.”
Within just a few minutes of coming out, reactions from the
likes of Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Elton John start flooding Twitter. “They
were all just going crazy on social media,” Jenner says, reflecting on its
power to help her daughters accept her transition. “I think at that point it
made my two little girls, who obviously live in that world -- I think it made
them feel really good. Like, ‘You know what? It’s going to be OK. People still
love my daddy.’”
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The watershed moment is one of many reflected upon in the
documentary directed by filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and featuring
interviews by Janet Mock, who speaks with leaders of the community including
former Playboy model Caroline Cossey,
adult entertainer Buck Angel, activist and Stonewall riots participant Miss
Major Griffin-Gracy and Emmy nominee Laverne Cox. The Trans List will let the 11 transgender individuals featured in
the film tell their stories of identity, career, love and struggle.
For Jenner, that’s included a publicly documented transition,
from the 20/20 special to the covers of Vanity Fair and Sports Illustrated and her short-lived
docuseries, I Am Cait. This year, she
appeared on season three of Amazon’s Transparent,
a story that coincidentally aligned with Jenner’s journey and helped her family
figure out her transition.
“Transparent has
really brought this issue forward. It's a subject that affects so many families
around the world. It is so great to keep this conversation moving in the right
direction. Nobody does it better than Transparent
in such an entertaining and thoughtful way,” Jenner told ET in September,
adding that she hoped her kids would watch the new season.