A truly extraordinary moment in the
world of sports tonight
Nearly forty years ago Bruce Jenner, all
muscle and grit, burst
into the national consciousness while
capturing Olympic glory
and tonight Caitlyn Jenner draped in a
glamorous white dress having recently
become perhaps the most famous face in 
the transgender community
received a major honour at the ESPYs
ladies and gentlemen
the courageous the stunning Caitlyn
Jenner
a standing ovation tonight for an
athlete who became
an American hero at the Olympics and may now
be changing
America itself. Caitlyn Jenner kissing her
mother
and then walking to the stage at the ESPYS
right here on ABC
to accept the Arthur Ashe courage award
it's been eye opening inspiring but also
frightening
all across this country right now all
across the world at this very moment
there are young people coming to terms
with being transgender
with help from Angelina Jolie's stylist
Jenner
sparkled in a stunning for Sochi dress a
stark contrast
to Bruce Jenner the athlete we've known
for decades
the chiseled sportsmen with the
all-american good looks
setting a world record in the grueling
decathlon in the 1976 Olympics
10 events over two days pushing the
limits
of human strength speed and endurance
the former Olympic champ once regarded
as the world's greatest athlete
now championing something greater this
transition has been harder on me than
anything I could imagine and that's the
case for so many others besides me
for that reason alone trans people
deserve something vital
they deserve your respect
her speech was preceded by a moving
video tribute narrated by John Ham
which traced Jenner's extraordinary
personal
arc from Olympic great to corporate
pitchman
to reality show Dad to isolated
individual trying to maintain privacy
under the glare of the paparazzi Jenner
went in for procedure to reduce is about
to reduce his adam's apple.
there was a picture of my dad
crying in his car that was really really
hard to see cuz my dad does not crack
perhaps the most emotional moment in her
speech tonight
when Caitlyn thanked her children always
wanted my children to be so proud of their dad.
what he was able to accomplish in his
life you guys have given so much back to
me
you have given me so much support I am so so
grateful to have all of you in my life.
her words
striking a chord with many viewers
tweeting Caitlyn Jenner you have shown
again that you continue to be a champion
and Caitlyn Jenner equals courage
daughter Kylie Jenner saying I love my
dad
it's been six weeks since Jenner first
introduced the world to Caitlyn this
behind-the-scenes video from Vanity Fair
showing renown photographer Annie Leibovitz
taking Jenner's pictures for the
magazine's
you could see the physical
transformation and also sense
the emotional relief. Bruce always had
to tell a lie
he was always living that lie every day
always had a secret from morning till
night
Caitlyn doesn't have any secrets. Tonight
Jenner
made a point to thank our own Diane
Sawyer. "You can only tell your story the
first time once and Diane you did it
so authentically and so gracefully
I look at guys and I go he's comfortable
in his own skin
you know I thought would not be a nice
way to go through life
I look at women all the time thinking
oh my god how lucky are they that they
can
wake up in the morning and be themselves
but me I'm stuck here in the middle
I got nowhere to go despite the
sometimes paralyzing fear what other
people might think the feelings of
potential regret finally
swayed Jenner if I die
which I could be diagnose next week with
cancer and bump could be gone
I be so mad at myself that I didn't
explore that side of me
judge
as we see in the docu-series "I am
Cait" those challenges still play out
daily
even in light-hearted way now I know why
girls need a sports bra and tonight at
the SB's
from our sister network ESPN also owned
by our parent company Disney
that transformation continued. Jenner
up on stage embracing her voice in the
transgender community
I know I'm clear with my responsibility
in going forward
to do whatever I can to reshape the
landscape how trans-issues
are viewed. Just last week she wrote the
first ever series
online articles exploring LGBT issues
writing
up until now I've totally isolated
myself from the transgender community
so I have a lot of catching up to do. "and
while it may not be easy to get past the
things you always don't
understand I want to prove that it is
absolutely possible
if we only do it together
thank you
