“I think I’ve kind of given up on her,” Richards says.
Richards was reacting to Jenner’s opposition to trans girls competing in sports teams that match their gender identity, which has become a political flashpoint among conservatives across the country.
“This is a question of fairness,” Jenner, a Republican,told TMZover the weekend. “That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls' sports in school. It just isn’t fair. And we have to protect girls' sports in our schools.”
Jenner soon drew backlash from LGBTQ groups and latertweeted: “I’m clear about where I stand. It’s an issue of fairness and we need to protect girls' sports in our schools.”
Many of the bills would specifically impose restrictions on transgender youth participation in sports.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Richards notes that she has positive things to say about Jenner, 71, as a person — though, she says, she takes issue with Jenner’s views of the world.
“With Caitlyn, in particular, she’s indicative of the fact that just because you have a marginalized identity, just because you are part of that world in some way, shape or form, it doesn’t mean you understand it,” Richards says. “It doesn’t mean you’re in a position to speak to it.”
A spokesperson for Jenner did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment about Richards' criticism.
Richards appeared alongside several other trans activists in season 1 ofI Am Caitin 2015, which documented Jenner’s life after her transition. “I know Caitlyn to actually be a very kind and empathetic person on an individual level,” she says.
Kevin Winter/Getty
“She cares about injustice, she’s very kind,” Richards says of Jenner. “She would speak out against injustice, if she ever saw it individually around her. What she doesn’t seem interested in — or frankly, even capable of — is thinking about those kinds of in justices on a systemic level and the ways in which she’s complicit in them.”
Since coming out as transgender in 2015, Jenner has spoken candidly about her blind spots with the trans community and how her own views evolved.
“I’ve changed my thinking in a lot of ways,” she told PEOPLE last year, describing herself as “economically conservative” and “much more progressive” socially.
“I just want to try to do the best I possibly can,” she said then.
As one of the country’s most famous trans advocates, she spoke out against a push to prevent transgender students from using the bathroom matching their identity and denounced former PresidentDonald Trump’s ban on transgender service members.
I Am Caitco-creator Jeff Olde alsopreviously defended Jennerto PEOPLE, while acknowledging that she knew she made mistakes. “But what I respect about her today is that she’s willing to learn,” he said. “And learning can be painful.”
Jennerannounced her candidacyfor governor of California in late April, ahead of the pending recall effort against incumbentGavin Newsom, who has vowed to fight to hold his seat.
She is running as a “disruptor” and an outsider, criticizing Newsom’s handling ofCOVID-19and arguing she can tackle California’s economy, though she faces an uphill challenge in a state where conservatives do not hold much sway.
“She’s got to know that there’s no chance she has of actually winning,” Richards says. “I can’t imagine she has any support. I mean, it just makes this whole campaign seem like some kind of media opportunity.”
Caitlyn Jenner/instagram
Decades after she won gold in the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics, Jenner — who experienced another bout of fame withKeeping Up with the Kardashians— came out as transgender in a groundbreaking July 2015 cover ofVanity Fair.
Richards feels that Jenner’s own journey is, inevitably, a factor in her politics.
Richards can be seen onClariceairing Thursday, May 13 (10 p.m. ET), on CBS.
source: people.com
