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 The 65-year-old Jenner made the declaration in a wide-ranging
interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, nearly 40 years after his
record-breaking Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon that
gave him the unofficial title of "World's Greatest Athlete."
At the outset of the taped interview at Jenner's Malibu,
California, house, Sawyer asked "Are you a woman?" and Jenner
responded, "Yes, for all intents and purposes I am a woman."
"People look at me differently," Jenner added. "They can see you
as this macho male, but my heart and my soul, and everything
that I do in life, it is part of me, that female side is part of
me. That's who I am."
Known to younger generations as the patriarch of reality TV's
Kardashian clan, Jenner went on ABC's "20/20" to put to rest
months of speculation that he was transitioning to life as a
woman.
"I was not genetically born that way," Jenner said. "As of now,
I have all the male parts and all that kind of stuff. In a lot
of ways we are different, OK? But we still identify as female.
And that's very hard for Bruce Jenner to say. Because why? I
don’t want to disappoint people."
Although Jenner did not address pronoun preference, Sawyer said
that for this interview, Jenner asked that the public use "the
familiar 'him' or 'he'."
Three times married and divorced and parent to six biological
children and four stepchildren, Jenner said he is not gay and
has never had sex with a man.
His first two wives sent messages of support for Jenner to
Sawyer, while his most recent wife, Kris Jenner, the manager and
mother of the stars in E! Entertainment's "Keeping Up with the
Kardashians" had no comment.
SUPPORT IN KARDASHIAN CLAN
One of the most difficult times for Jenner was around 18 months
ago, when journalists were waiting for him as he went to undergo
a tracheal shave, a sign of a transition to women. He briefly
had thoughts of taking his own life to escape the glare of the
sensationalist media.
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Telling his family, however, of his transition went rather smoothly
and Jenner's eldest children expressed their support for their
father on camera.
"I feel like I am getting an upgraded version of my dad," said son
Brandon Jenner.
Stepdaughter Kim Kardashian, perhaps one of the most famous of
American reality TV stars, has been "by far the most accepting and
the easiest to talk to," Jenner said. Her husband, rapper Kanye
West, had been instrumental in helping her accept Jenner's
transition, he added.
According to Jenner, Kim Kardashian encouraged him by saying "Girl,
you gotta rock it baby. You gotta look good."
Khloe Kardashian, also a stepdaughter famous for the TV show, has
had "the toughest time with it because she's had a lot of losses in
her life," Jenner said.
The two youngest daughters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, sent a message
of support to the program saying "All we want is for him to be
happy. If he's happy, we're happy."
Jenner was one of the most prominent athletes of the 1970s after he
won the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal and
broke the world record for points in the 10-event competition.
His life with the Kardashians and eight seasons on television gave
him a second round of fame as cameras followed their every move.
"I had the story," Jenner said, referring to the secret that he kept
under wraps until Friday.
(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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