Caitlyn Jenner met face-to-face with protesters who called her "an insult to trans people."
Jenner was chosen to speak at the Chicago House Speaker Series luncheon for the Chicago House, which helps those affected by HIV/AIDS in the LGBT community, on Thursday.
Some, however, were unhappy about Jenner being the keynote speaker. A group of protesters stood outside to challenge the former Olympian. In the video above, one protester says to Jenner: "You are an insult to trans people, you are an insult to women. You have no right to represent us."
The video shows Jenner approaching one protestor, seemingly attempting to diffuse the situation and telling her she loves her.
“The chaos outside was a great contrast to the uplifting atmosphere inside where Caitlyn had just given her speech,” Chicago radio host Showbiz Shelly told ET. “I thought she handled the situation with poise. By confronting the protesters in the way she did, she emphasized the themes she talked about in her speech. To be respectful, be brave and stand up for what you believe in.”
A Facebook page created for the protest, which has since been deleted, highlighted Jenner's celebrity status a reason for her being a poor representation of the trans community. According to Towleroad, the page read:
Who, you may ask, did they select to speak on the issues facing trans people and especially trans women in our city? Caitlyn Jenner. Caitlyn Jenner, who lives in a mansion and has a net worth of millions of dollars, while the average trans person has a 41 percent chance of experiencing homelessness [sic] and a nearly 50 percent chance of living off less than $10k per year ...
If you think Chicago House’s shameless pandering to the trans community for mediocre representation, embodied by a clueless rich white woman who thinks disenfranchised trans women of color should just pluck themselves up off the street and stop being so lazy, is an insult and a disgrace, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Meet us in the lobby Thursday to tell Chicago House, Caitlyn Jenner, and all her supporters that Caitlyn Jenner doesn’t represent trans people! Stand up and say: #IAintCait!”
A rep for Jenner was not immediately available for comment.
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