Caitlyn Jenner got a piece of the LGBTQ community’s mind this weekend when trans activist Ashlee Marie Preston confronted the reality star for her support of President Trump.
Preston, who would later post a three-minute video of the altercation on Facebook, approached Jenner at a performance of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles on Saturday night. Jenner apparently thought that the woman coming from behind her was a fan, going in for a hug.
But Preston was not here to make friends.
“It’s really f***ed up that you are here,” Preston told Jenner, who was clearly taken aback by the criticism. “Some people may be afraid to confront you for being here, but I am not. You are directly responsible for what has happened with transgender soldiers and the military. I am not afraid to say it to you, I am not. I am not afraid.”
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“It’s really fucked up that you continue to support somebody… that’s erasing our fucking community,” Preston added.
The activist, who recently made history as the first trans editor-in-chief of a national publication when she was tapped to lead Wear Your Voice, called attention to Trump’s recent ban on trans military service. On Friday, the president signed a memo effectively barring transgender troops from enlisting. He also gave Gen. James Mattis the discretion to remove those already serving.
After Trump initially announced that policy in a series of July series, Jenner was spotted wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while driving in Los Angeles.
She later apologized for that gaffebut has yet to officially rescind her support for Trump.
As Preston confronted Jenner, the one-time gold medal Olympian tapped Dena Williams, who co-chaired the event, on the shoulder. It seems that Jenner hoped Williams would be able to deescalate the conflict, which had begun to draw a crowd. But Preston then turned her criticism on the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles for accepting what she would later claim on Twitter was a $25,000 donation from Jenner.
“We are complicit,” Preston told Williams. “Taking her money and doing all that? It makes us complicit. How are we gonna fight anyone if she’s giving money to the people that are destroying us?”
Although Jenner was largely silent throughout the standoff, she did attempt to vindicate herself. “You don’t know me,” Jenner said in a hushed tone. Given that Jenner has appeared in two reality shows and came out in a well-publicized interview with Diane Sawyer, this is a bizarre line of defenseto say the least.
Preston wasn’t having it. “Yes I do!” she shot back. “You’re a fucking fraud and a fake.”
The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles later defended the event, which was a tribute to the David Bowie album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, in an interview with PinkNews. The organization claimed that Preston, a former board member, “said nothing” when Caitlyn Jenner’s foundation “offered the chorus a grant last May.”
But Preston has refused to back down in the days since, calling Jenner “trash” when video of the confrontation was posted to Facebook.
After that video racked up hundreds of thousands of views on social media, Preston tweeted on Sunday, “Desperate times call for desperate measures. A loud, angry black trans woman is more effective than a dead one.”
LGBTQ actors including Scandal’s Guillermo Diaz and Angelica Ross of Her Story have voiced support for Preston. Jenner has yet to make a statement.
