Justice

Why Are We Surprised Caitlyn Jenner is Republican?

March 12th 2016

Caitlyn Jenner blew people's minds once again with her conservative opinions. On a new episode of the E! show "I Am Cait," the transgender celebrity called Hillary Clinton a “f-ing liar” and said Donald Trump would be “good for women’s issues,” although she’s not “not a big fan” of his. Her revelation was met with a lot of unfavorable responses.

Twitter exploded with surprise and overwhelming negative backlash against Jenner.

Why is Jenner swinging Right?

The news comes after Jenner's praise of Ted Cruz and desire to be his "trans ambassador," and though it may seem surprising to some, it's true that not every racial minority or member of the LGBT community votes the same. Plus, Jenner’s financial affluence falls in line with many Republican voters. Voters who support Republicans are strongly associated with financial stability, according to Pew Research Center.

"During the fall campaign season, we asked panelists – voters and non-voters alike – which candidate they preferred for Congress. Support for Republican candidates was strongly associated with financial security: among the most secure group, 49% favored or leaned to the Republican candidate, compared with just 17% among the least secure group." - Pew Research Center

Jenner's conservative views stray from the transgender community, who tends to sway left, as Republicans were typically seen as opponents of the movement.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the New York Post that diversifying the transgender community is a good thing and in fact, inevitable. “Trans people need to buckle up,” she said. “With all the folks who will be coming out in the next few years, you’re not going to agree with all of them.”

Other "Non-traditional" Republicans.

Jenner is not the first member of a minority group to depart from the pack. The Log Cabin Republicans, a group “dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and their allies” has been around for more than 30 years. But that doesn’t mean that LGBT conservatives avoid backlash.

Richard Grenell was briefly Mitt Romney’s openly gay spokesman during the candidate’s 2012 campaign, but he resigned after his appointment caused controversy with conservatives, according to the Washington Post.

"I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team." - Richard Grenell

Black conservatives seemingly have more success in the political realm. Michael Steele was the first Black chairman of the Republican Committee, and the most well-known example would be former presidential candidate Ben Carson, who recently endorsed Donald Trump.

Despite his success in the Republican Party, many people in the Black community are not fans of his political views.

Caitlyn Jenner is not the first minority to be different and she wont be the last. In a sense, that’s what "minority" means.

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