A Question of Labels: The Bruce Jenner Interview

Last Updated on February 10, 2022

The interview Olympian and reality show star Bruce Jenner gave to ABC’s Diane Sawyer raised many eyebrows and questions from viewers and LGBT advocates as well.

One of the first things people complained about with respect to the interview was the pronoun ABC News used in describing Bruce Jenner. Before the interview, LGBT advocates were condemning ABC News because the organization stated it was using male pronouns because, according to Jenner’s family, that’s what he preferred.

Why was that a problem?

Critics said they should have contacted Jenner himself, not his family, because families in such situations may be less likely to accept a change the person might request and therefore go with the traditional pronouns in a state of denial.

Critics said ABC should have considered going with a gender-neutral they rather than he.

I understand the denial concerns, but I have a hard time imagining media critics actually calling for reporters to “guess”or make assumptions about someone in the delay of hearing directly from the person when the person’s family has advised them on what they say he prefers. For the media, it’s always better to have a source to provide that kind of information than to pretend we know what’s best.

ABC News says it tried to reach Jenner first, but that he didn’t immediately respond, which is why they went with what the family said.

During the interview, Sawyer referred to Jenner with male pronouns: he, him and his. They stated that’s what Jenner said he preferred — which meant ABC News’s call turned out to be the right one after all.

I didn’t watch the full interview; however, of the clips and write-ups I’ve read about it, one statement made by Jenner did jump out at me.

He stated emphatically that he is not gay.

This is the one statement likely to cause the most confusion among those of us who are trying to wrap our heads around the transgender/gender questioning segment of the population.

Jenner, born a man, has been married and sexually active with women. He says he has always been attracted to women and said he has never been with a man.

But he says he considers himself a woman mentally and is in the process of transitioning to a woman.

And says he remains attracted to women.

If he considers himself a woman and is attracted to women, that would be same-sex attraction, logically.

So why be so insistent that he’s not gay?

Is there a fear of a stigma associated with homosexuality, which is generally more accepted than it has ever been, that’s somehow greater than any stigma associated with gender identity, which certainly seems far less accepted or understood?

If gender identity issues are so complex for the mainstream public to grasp, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there might be confusion among those in the middle of such a life change.

I hope that’s a reminder to both sides that patience is an important part of dialog in waters as generally uncharted as these seem to be.