NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) — Caitlyn Jenner was honored at the 2015 Glamour Women of the Year awards on Monday.
The 66-year-old reality star, who came out as a transgender woman in April, was recognized for her advocacy in the transgender community. Actress Reese Witherspoon, designer Victoria Beckham and ballerina Misty Copeland were among the other honorees.
“Since 1990, Glamour’s Women of the Year awards have saluted the planet’s most remarkable female leaders, and tonight’s winners are no exception,” editor-in-chief Cindy Leive said in a statement. “They have been inspired and led by the generations of Women of the Year before them, and Glamour is thrilled to celebrate their passion.”
Jenner was accompanied by her 18-year-old daughter, Kylie Jenner, and spoke about her journey in her acceptance speech. She struggled with her identity for decades before coming out on 20/20 and debuting as a woman on the July cover of Vanity Fair.
“For years and years, I never felt like I fit in anywhere,” she recalled. “I always felt as an outsider; I never felt good in the male side, and I wasn’t obviously in the female side. I was kind of stuck in the middle. But all of a sudden, after making these decisions and coming out, it was by far the best thing that I ever did.”
“Maybe this is why God put me on this earth — to tell my story,” she said. “To be authentic to myself, to who I am. And maybe in doing that, maybe you can make a difference in the world. What a great opportunity in life to have.”
Jenner is known for winning the decathlon gold medal in the 1976 Olympics, and later appeared on E! series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She has since starred on I Am Cait, which follows her gender transition, and will return for a second season in 2016.
