Though Caitlyn Jenner has come to realize that Trump is "the worst ever" for trans rights, she alienated a number of members of the transgender community with her support for him in 2016.
She also isolated herself from members of her own family. Tell-all books do not make for friendly family dinners.
Now, in a newly published interview, Cait discusses the distances from her children, and her regrets and mistakes as an activist.
In a lengthy and newly published interview with Broadly, Caitlyn
"I spend a lot of time by myself here in the house."
We should note that the actual interview took place last autumn. Which was before Cait began to seem inseparable from rumored girlfriend Sophia Hutchins.
"I have a lot of children, but sometimes just because of circumstances, maintaining a close relationship with your kids is very tough."
She has six children, including Kylie and Kendall. She also played a parental role with the Kardashian children, so one could argue that she has ten children.
"They all have lives. They've all moved on."
Things between Cait and her erstwhile stepchildren have turned downright hostile.
And though she still has a relationship with some, like Kylie and Kendall, they're adults doing their own things.
Cait waxes philosophical about existence and life itself.
"We're just human beings; we're going to be here for a very short time."
Ultimately, she hopes to have strong relationships with her loved ones that last until the end of her life.
"We come and we go and at the end, when it's all said and done, hopefully your family is going to be there."
It only recently came to life that Caitlyn at one time considered suicide.
In this interview, Cait reveals that she had thought about her eventual death, and, long before she ever publicly came out as trans, had considered a stipulation in her will that she be buried in what society considers to be 'women's clothes."
Now, that would no longer be a shock. But Cait does share what she expects -- or at least, hopes for -- when she, as a Christian, one day dies.
"I hope when I get up there to the pearly gates, God looks down and says, ‘You did a good damn job, you won the Games, raised wonderful children, and you know, you made a difference in the world. Yeah, come on in.’ That’s the way I want to go."
The subject of Cait's conflicts within the trans community -- her interviewer herself was trans, and knows this struggle from the inside -- absolutely comes up.
Cait does acknowledge that she made some mistakes after coming out.
"But I never did it maliciously. I just didn't know, you know?"
She also admits that, particularly after the initial widespread support that she received after coming out, she was not prepared for the criticisms from trans people.
"And I really didn't realize how critical the community was going to be."
It's appropriate that this interview is coming out now, just days after her major conflict with a trans advocate and model went public in a big way.
After Carmen Carrera spoke out about Cait on TMZ, Caitlyn texted her -- which we know because Carmen revealed those texts in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Cait wrote to her, saying:
"Instead of putting negative things out in the press, about me, which hurts what I’m doing, you should be aware of what I’m actually doing. Call me and I’ll give you an update."
Carmen's reply was ... not friendly.
"Although I’m happy someone has knocked some sense into you, please don’t forget about how I came to you with ideas of moving this movement outwards and you said you’d help but you never did."
Carmen did make an offer for how they could make nice, but apparently did not receive a reply.
"If you’d like to have dinner to apologize and make it up to me, lets do it. Less talking, more doing."
It was then Cait's gal pal, Sophia Hutchins, who told Carmen that she had "burned a bridge" with Cait.
In addition to sharing those texts, Carmen wrote about how she met and offered support to Cait before Caitlyn's big reveal as a trans woman.
"What I found was this lady’s ego is way too big for no reason and she’s the most selfish person I’ve ever met."
That goes hand in hand with how many people view Cait. She may be marginalized as a trans woman, but she's still rich white conservative woman who may have trouble empathizing with people whose lives are so very different from her own.
"She even told me to my face that she 'wanted to be #1,' whatever that means. Doing humanitarian work means you have to actually be a human."
Ouch.
"Honestly, what does she actively do everyday for trans folks? And why does she take credit for what real activists are doing?"
Those are some solid questions.
Carmen then calls Cait's qualifications into account.
"Who even is she?.. A retired athletic hero turned background reality star, who is now stealing credit from the already disenfranchised trans community all for her own public benefit?"
That ... isn't the least accurate characterization of Caitlyn that we've seen.
"Be who you really are instead of who you think you need to be to gain more popularity. I will not let you take advantage of my people."
Carmen's very public post then ends with a jab at Cait and Sophia:
"Also, since you’re too much of a coward to communicate, please do not send your sidekick to handle your dirty work. She’s just as fake as you are. @hutchins_sophia"
We can all observe that Caitlyn has alienated herself from both many trans activists and other members of the LGBT+ community and from many members of her own family.
But it's worth noting that her biggest fear for decades, that she would be rejected because she is a trans woman, did not come true.
Instead, people are wary of her for her political actions and statements and, in the case of her family, for what they perceive to be betrayals.
You don't write a tell-all book without facing some personal consequences, folks.
