#InTheirWords: Trans community reacts to spotlight on Caitlyn Jenner
In a new promo for the July 26 premiere of E!'s docuseries I Am Cait, Caitlyn Jenner said she's so consumed with the hardships the transgender community faces, she can hardly sleep.
"We don't want people dying over this. We don't want people murdered over this stuff. What a responsibility I have towards this community," Jenner said in the video clip. "Am I going to do everything right?"
From heightened risk of violence, poverty, sexual assault and discrimination, to a suicide rate that's much higher than the national average, transgender men and women face a host of issues, according to a recent report by The Movement Advancement Project. The trans community is one of the most vulnerable groups in the country, according to the report.
Jenner admits she's reeling with the pressure of living up to her new role as a transgender advocate and role model.
"Am I going to say the right things? Do I project the right image? My mind's just spinning with thoughts," she said in the promo video.
Jenner, 65, made her debut as a transgender woman on the July cover of Vanity Fair. The response to Jenner's revelation was overwhelmingly positive, with celebrities, politicians and even President Obama tweeting support. The former olympian also recently accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs.
Many in the transgender community feel that while Jenner is glorified by the media, particularly for her looks and fashionable clothing, her story may not be representative of the hardships regular transgender men and women face in this country.
Jenner's transition exhibits her "privilege" of wealth and celebrity, according to Angelica Ross, the CEO of TransTechSocial Enterprises.
"Having the access that Caitlyn has is such a drastic contrast to what the normal experience of being trans in America is," Ross said. "It's starting to expose the hypocrisy of our country to want to celebrate and at the same time ridicule and violate a [trans] community."
Jenner's transition is something that many trans women will never be able to afford, Iden D. Campbell McCollum, a transgender man, and community leader said.
Watch: Transgender in the U.S.
"She is showing a person that has the means and income to go and immediately get cosmetic surgery and...look and present as this person she feels she has always been," Campbell said.
He said in some ways her transition and the laser focus on her cosmetic procedures, has overshadowed the issues that the trans community desperately need to be addressed.
Caitlyn Jenner through the years
Jenner as a transgender advocate
However, it is undeniable that her transition has sparked a national conversation on how the media and public should treat transgender men and women.
In response to Jenner coming out as a transgender woman, GLAAD released a tip sheet on how journalists could respectfully cover Jenner's transition.
The guidelines covered what pronouns to use and offered insight to phrases like "born a man" that might be insensitive to Jenner's gender identity. Likewise, Apple users recently noticed that if you ask Apple's Siri a question about Bruce Jenner, Siri corrects to Jenner's preferred name, Caitlyn.
Ken Jiretsu, a transgender activist from Baltimore, Md., says that showing the normalcy of a family with a transgender parent on an E! series exemplifies that transgender families are "just like everybody else."
Jiretsu, who also transitioned after having children, said he's happy Jenner has been able to accept "her own truth."
Ross said Jenner has the opportunity to use her celebrity to impact the trans community. While Jenner recently launched a blog, posting weekly about trans issues and directs users to resources, Ross said Jenner can do more.
"I would love to see Caitlyn Jenner use her position to directly affect the community and not go through the gatekeepers that are speaking on behalf of the community," Ross said.
Follow @MaryBowerman on Twitter.