Caitlyn Jenner’s political views have shifted over the last five years.
The 70-year-old reality star publicly revealed her gender identity back in 2015 and has since questioned her life-long Republican beliefs.
“I’ve changed my thinking in a lot of ways,” Jenner tells People, adding that she now identifies as “economically conservative, socially progressive” and believes “we need equality for all, regardless of who’s in the White House.”
“I love my community,” she adds. “I truly want to help.”
Jenner has been open about voting for President Donald Trump in the 2016 elections, something that caused her to be uninvited from fundraisers she’d donated to in the past.
“They said I’m ‘too controversial.’ And that hurt,” she says. “I think I had been wearing rose-colored glasses. I thought I could change the world. Now I know I can only try and change one person at a time.”
In 2017, Jenner revealed that her own support of gay marriage and transgender rights caused her to split with many in the Republican party.
“This is my journey,” she tells People. “Yes, it is different than other trans people. I get it. But the bottom line is this: When I wake up in the morning, I’m happy with myself.”
The first time that happiness with herself set in was when she held her new driver’s license in July 2015.
“It was so emotional. There I was. Caitlyn Marie Jenner,” she recalls. “But then, I wondered, ‘Did Bruce deserve to be thrown away like this?’ He did a lot of good things. He raised 10 kids. But I wasn’t turning around.”
“Bruce did just about everything he can do. He raised 10 kids. Now what does Caitlyn do?” Jenner continues. “I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to change the world’s thinking.’ Fifty-one percent of trans people attempt suicide. The murder rate — we’ve been losing one trans woman of color every two weeks.”
When ET’s Lauren Zima spoke to Jenner in March, the former Olympian revealed that she’s considering penning a followup book to her 2017 memoir, The Secrets of My Life, to document her last five years.
“I’ve thought about it. Over the last five years, I’ve been through a lot, and I think there’s a lot more to tell about my story, my life, and the issues that are out there,” she explained. “I think at the beginning, I really didn’t know much about the trans community, the environment I was getting into. Made some mistakes, said some things that I didn’t think were bad, but all of a sudden things changed.”
“I just think I kind of have a lot to say. That is something I’ve thought about — where we are today,” Jenner continued. “Over the last few years, I started my own foundation [and] was able to raise a lot of money and give it to a lot of trans organizations.”
