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Janet Mock: Caitlyn Jenner Doesn't Speak for Trans Community

Janet Mock

Mock made that clear when Chelsea Handler asked her about Jenner's recent tasteless joke.

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Caitlyn Jenner is not a spokeswoman for transgender people, Janet Mock made clear in an interview on Chelsea Handler's Netflix show, Chelsea.

In the interview, Handler asked Mock about Jenner's unfortunate joke about the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise and others last week at a baseball practice by a man who supported Bernie Sanders in last year's presidential election. "Liberals can't even shoot straight," Jenner told a meeting of the College Republican National Committee last Friday.

"Do you feel a responsibility to defend her ... or that she's representing your community in a bad way?" Handler asked Mock.

"I think my community has overwhelmingly said that we don't want that," Mock said of Jenner's representation, to much applause. She added that it's problematic when media outlets describe Jenner as a transgender activist or advocate.

"It's Caitlyn Jenner, who's a very specific person, with a specific set of experiences that are very moneyed, very white, and very privileged. ... She can say that on behalf of herself, but I don't think on behalf of the community," Mock explained.

New episodes of Chelsea are available every Friday on Netflix. Watch a clip of the Mock interview below.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.