Petition wants Jenner’s medal "revoked"
Before becoming Caitlyn Jenner, Bruce Jenner won a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in the men’s decathlon.
With Bruce now fully transitioned into the woman named Caitlyn Jenner, an online petition has asked for Jenner’s medal to be "revoked".
The petition – which was created on Change.org by Jennifer Bradford – informs the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Jenner "has always believed herself to be truly female" and "was in violation of committee rules regarding women competing in men’s sports."
Because of this, Bradford urged the IOC to consider if Jenner "should retain her Olympic records" as "Bruce Jenner was, in fact, a woman participating in a men’s event."
As of today, the petition as amassed a whopping 14 668 supporters.
The IOC has since responded to the petition with its Communications Director Mark Adams telling Yahoo that "Bruce Jenner won his gold medal…and there is no issue for the IOC."
Read the full petition below:
Dear International Olympic Committee,
It has recently come to light that gold medalist Bruce Jenner is in fact transgender, and therefore, identifies as a woman. We congratulate Ms. Jenner on these new developments and wish her the best. However, this creates somewhat of a problem as Ms. Jenner (as talented as she is) claims that she has always believed herself to be truly female, and therefore, was in violation of committee rules regarding women competing in men’s sports and vice versa. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we must ask whether or not it is proper that Ms. Jenner should retain her olympic records in light of this, as we must now either claim that Bruce Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner are two entirely different people (which we know is not true), or that Bruce Jenner was, in fact, a woman participating in a men’s event. It is only fair to all involved that women receive their credit as champions of the Decathalon and that the men racing Ms. Jenner are not expected to compete with a superior, streamlined being such as herself.
We urge Ms. Jenner to support the transgender community by giving up the medals earned by competing against the wrong gender.
Thank you, and congratulations to Ms. Jenner for her courage!
#givebackthegold.
