How Can Anyone Be T and GOP?

Will Caitlyn Jenner identify less with the Republican party the more she learns about their transgender policies?

“I’m kind of more on the conservative side.”

With those words spoken in April, Caitlyn Jenner, America’s most famous transgender person, came out as a Republican.

The shock wave felt across the country wasn’t over the fact that the icon known to generations as the world’s greatest athlete wanted to change her gender marker from M to F as much as Jenner’s revelation of the R that stands for “Republican.”

As The Advocate reported, the twitteratti reacted to this news about Caitlyn Jenner (she was at that time still publicly using the name Bruce while identifying as a woman) with outrage:

“Bruce Jenner is so gross … he’s a freaking Republican.”

“Bruce Jenner comes out … as a Republican. Now THAT’s offensive. This country is going to hell in a hand basket.”

Even Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee saw an opportunity to express his bewilderment:

Bruce #Jenner came out as a Republican last April.Well is #CaitlynJenner a Republican too ? — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) June 1, 2015

It's not difficult to understand the shock and bewilderment. Most so-called "bathroom bills," which aim to legislate which restrooms trans people can use, are pushed by GOP politicians. The issue of open trans service in the military has found few supporters in the Republican party; presidential candidate Mike Huckabee even referred to transgender servicemembers as "absurd" and a "social experiment."

But as Fusion observed in April, “Jenner is no unicorn.” While there is no reliable data available on political affiliations specific to transgender people, in a 2014 Gallup poll, a full 21 percent of the LGBT people overall identified as Republican.

Although Jenner’s conservative political affiliation is yet one more contrast between herself and rank-and-file LGBT Americans, that’s more than one in five gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans people who are Republicans.

Since she came out, Log Cabin Republicans executive director Gregory T. Angelo has repeatedly and publicly congratulated the former Olympian, and tossed out the welcome mat for other LGBT conservatives: “There is a home for you in Log Cabin Republicans — as there is for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender conservatives and straight allies.”

Angelo tells The Advocate the political group's leadership chose in January to show its inclusiveness toward trans Republicans by adding "LGBT" to its mission statement.

Similar efforts toward inclusion drew criticism from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, who denounced Jenner’s coming-out as a liberal plot to “redefine normalcy,” and urged fellow conservatives to turn their backs on her.

“We should not be celebrating this, we should not be lionizing this, we should not be encouraging this,” Limbaugh bellowed over the radio and Internet in June.

That same month, the Log Cabin Republicans drew harsh criticism for touting Jenner's Republican affiliation at a Pride celebration in Los Angeles.

The L.A. chapter set up a seven-foot-tall banner bearing Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover and the LGBT Republican group’s logo at the L.A. Pride festival in West Hollywood. Many attendees had their pictures taken in front of it.

"My issue," out Democratic strategist Phil Attey tells The Advocate, "is that [the Log Cabin Republicans] are trying to sell to the gay community that there's no difference between nominees who are Republican and Democrat."

And as for Jenner? There remains a wide gulf between her life and the average trans experience. While transgender people are twice as likely to be unemployed and four times more likely to live in poverty compared with the general population, Jenner has a net worth in the millions. The fiscal policies of the Republican party are more likely to benefit someone like Jenner than a high school -educated African-American trans woman trying to find steady employment.

"[Jenner] is being used [by the LGBT GOP establishment]," Attey says, "whether she vocally supports a candidate or not. They are trying to say, 'It's hip and cool to be one of us.' She can't let that happen. Stop the madness, Caitlyn!"

Angelo says the Republican reaction to Jenner's political coming-out has been mixed. "I see shades of gray, degrees of support for her and LGBT issues throughout the party," he says.

He concedes it wasn't so long ago that he struggled with the intersection of trans rights and the fight for marriage equality. "If the head of the Log Cabin Republicans needed to go back and get an education on transgender issues, then certainly there are other Republicans who need to be educated on these issues and I'm walking proof," he says.

Attey tells The Advocate that gap in education will result in a decade-long wait before the Republican Party will embrace full equality.

"You can be T and Republican," says Attey. "But you cannot be T and support the Republican Party and their candidates, even if their candidates are supportive of LGBT issues." The reason, he says, is that a trans Republican would be throwing their money away. "I have known some LGBT Republicans who spent all their time promoting LGBT issues with their straight Republican colleagues. None give them any money, not anymore. Nor do they support them vocally. They can only use their connections to influence support."

Attey believes those who are GOP and T are not that different from those who transition successfully and then decide to go stealth and not get involved with the trans or broader LGBT community. "I imagine that is so true with someone Republican," he says.

"As a gay man, I am still asked frequently, How can you be gay and a Republican? And I don't think it's any different for transgender individuals," says Angelo, who says in his travels across the U.S. he has met "a number of our members who happen to be transgender" Republicans. "The best way to show just how diverse the fabric of America is in this great tapestry that we call the United States is to live your life, be true to yourself," he says.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who hopes to have his name on the GOP ticket next year in the race for the White House, was the first nationally known Republican to not only embrace Jenner's transformation but invited her support:

"If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be safe and have a prosperous economy, vote for me. ... I haven't walked in her shoes,” the senator said in a June interview, pausing momentarily before using Jenner’s preferred pronoun.

“I don't have all the answers to the mysteries of life. I can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through. I hope he’s — I hope she has found peace. I'm a pro-life, traditional marriage kind of guy, but I'm running to be president of the United States. If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party.”

Nevada came close to electing a trans Republican to its state Assembly last year.

Lauren Scott soundly defeated fellow Republican Adam Khan in their June 2014 primary, with more than 58 percent of the vote, earning her a shot at representing Nevada's 30th District in the Assembly. But Scott lost to incumbent Democrat Michael Sprinkle by fewer than 900 votes in the November general election. Sprinkle had 54 percent to Scott’s 46 percent.

As The Advocate reported last year, Scott is a self-described moderate who promised to keep taxes low, encouraged technology training in public schools, and spoke in favor of boosting renewable energy resources.

And on her campaign website, now closed, she addressed what she said would be her “overwhelming focus”: unemployment. "We need to make Nevada more attractive to a wide range of businesses," she wrote. "By reducing energy costs, removing barriers to competition, encouraging rural development and supporting Nevada entrepreneurs, we can get Nevada working again."

Scott served as in Operation Desert Storm and is a decorated veteran. She was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force at Nevada's Tonopah Test Range in support of F-117A Stealth Fighter Operations.

In 2012, Governor Brian Sandoval named Scott to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, where she has advocated for a variety of civil rights causes.

And that is something viewers have been seeing Caitlyn Jenner learn about on her E! docu-series, I Am Cait. But it’s been a struggle, as she spoke out against “handouts” in the series' second episode:

"[Can't public aid recipients] make more not working with social programs than they actually can with an entry-level job?" Jenner asked. "You don't want people to get totally dependent on it," she continued. "That's when they get in trouble. ‘Why should I work?'"

Jenner friend and show adviser Jenny Boylan wrote on Facebook that she's "glad" Jenner is Republican: