Bruce Jenner Reveals Herself as Caitlyn on the Cover of Vanity Fair

Bruce Jenner has introduced Caitlyn to the world on the July 2015 cover of Vanity Fair — and she looks amazing! (Photo: Vanity Fair)

In the issue, which hits newsstands June 9th, Jenner speaks movingly about her journey, telling contributing editor and author of Friday Night Lights Buzz Bissinger, “If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life.’ ”

Caitlyn Jenner is finally ‘free’ on Vanity Fair’s Cover. (Video: Vanity Fair/YouTube)

Caitlyn Jenner just received a verified Facebook account and a verified Twitter account, tweeting for the first time moments after the cover was released:

This completes the transition that’s been talked about for months, culminating in a fever pitch when Jenner spoke in April with ABC’s Diane Sawyer about her gender identity, saying she had always been confused about it.

“My brain is more female than it is male,” said Jenner, the 1976 Olympic decathlon champion who has been better known in recent years as part of television’s omnipresent Kardashian family.

The reaction online has been overwhelmingly positive, with accolades directed at Jenner from across the globe:

Gender confirmation, the preferred term among the transgender community for what is also known as “gender reassignment” or a “sex change,” is the process of transitioning from one gender to another. Gender confirmation is typically a preferred treatment when someone has gender dysphoria, a condition where there is a conflict between a person’s physical gender and the gender with which they identify.

But the formal gender confirmation process doesn’t happen overnight. According to guidelines set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), patients undergo several months of psychological therapy and may also utilize hormone therapy to block the sex hormones naturally produced by their bodies and introduce new hormones of their preferred gender. Once they have undergone the required amount of therapy and their doctor has decided they meet the right requirements, they’re able to get a note that they can take to a surgeon to perform gender confirmation surgery.

Patients may then go through a number of surgeries on their face, body, and genitalia to reflect outside how they feel inside.

“By sharing her journey with the world, Caitlyn Jenner is accelerating acceptance of transgender people everywhere and reminds us all how important it is to live as your most authentic self,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

“For a transgender person to step into the world as his or her authentic self is a moment of tremendous freedom,” said Nick Adams, GLAAD’s Director of Programs, Transgender Media. “The world can now see what Caitlyn Jenner has always known, that she is — and always has been — a woman.”

Congratulations to Jenner on her transition!

Read This Next: How Transgender Surgery and Hormones Affect the Body

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