Caitlyn Jenner Before The Declaration On Vanity Fair (Photo : YouTube)
While the rest of the world is applauding Bruce Jenner, now named Caitlyn Jenner, for being brave enough to face the world with a new identity, a petition has been filed urging the International Olympic Committee to take back the gold medal, which the "Keeping Up With The Kardashian" star had won at the 1976 Games in Montreal.
The petition, started by Jennifer Bradford on Change.org , has close to 6000 suporters to date. The online petition says that since the 65-year-old always believed herself to be a female, the victory at the decathlon championship was in fact, a "violation of committee rules," which prohibit women competing in men's sports and vice versa.
The petition further says that according to Caitlyn's recent disclosure to Vanity Fair, she always believed herself to be a woman, but still participated in a men's event and has, thus, asked the former champion to give back the gold medal won against the wrong gender, Independent reported.
The IOC rules regarding the gender categorization often comes under fire. Earlier, all female Olympians were subjected to the humiliating process of mandatory gender verification, a practice that was later stopped in 1990, though, IOC still retains the right of gender verification of specific athletes, Yahoo! reported.
In 2012, IOC passed the landmark decision of allowing transgender athlete to compete amongst their chosen peers, if he/she has completed at least two years of hormone therapy and has undergone gender reassignment surgery.
Bruce won the medal way back in 1976, when he was living as a man. He was married at the time and was reportedly not taking any form of hormone therapy.
Meanwhile, E! has announced an eight-part, one-hour documentary series titled, "I Am Cait," centered around the reality TV star's transition to a woman, her life as a transgender and the way the development affected her relationships.
The show will premiere on Sunday, July 26, at 9 p.m., but its teaser have started airing, which shows Caitlyn grooming herself by applying lip gloss and face powder as she prepares for the day.
