'Girls, I'm on your team': Caitlyn Jenner speaks at Penn

People filed into the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium by the hundreds to catch Wednesday night's interview with Caitlyn Jenner, star of I Am Cait, a reality show on E! based on the Olympian's gender transition.

In her first appearance at Penn, Jenner was interviewed by Buzz Bissinger, author of the July Vanity Fair article, "Call Me Caitlyn." Months earlier, Bruce Jenner had announced his plans to transition from a man to a woman, but the Vanity Fair article debuted her new look and name.

Bissinger moderated a 60-minute discussion, followed by a question-and-answer session with the sold-out crowd. Jenner spoke about her experience with gender dysphoria since childhood, about what she would say to her critics, and about her relationships with her ex-wives and children.

Jenner, dressed in a long-sleeve white shirt, flared yellow pants, and brown ankle boots, was talkative and cracked jokes throughout the night, saying at one point, "I don't want to shock you, but I've actually gotten a little work done," referring to her feminization surgeries.

But she broke into tears when she answered a question from an audience member about coming out to her parents.

Her father, a World War II veteran, died 15 years ago, and Jenner never told him the truth about her gender identity. "That will always haunt me," Jenner said as the audience grew silent. "I think eventually he would have come around. He would have never understood, he didn't know anything - gay, trans, all that other stuff. But I'm sure he's looking down from heaven right now and saying, 'Well, you're doing a good job.' " The room roared with applause.

Jenner said that she hadn't known how her mother would react to the news, but that she had become Jenner's "best ally," even if she sometimes calls her Bruce.

Jenner was also quick to note that she doesn't consider herself a spokesperson for the transgender community, even if the media portray her that way. She has received support from her loved ones that many in her position have not, she said.

At one point, Bissinger cut in with a question about whether Jenner had ever considered suicide. Jenner said that when TMZ was going to publish a story about Jenner's consultation on trachea surgery (a step in the transition process), she thought, "Just take yourself out."

"But then I thought, what a horrible way to end my story," she said.

Jenner said she had no regrets since transitioning: "Girls, I'm on your team and I'm sticking on your team," she said to laughter and applause.

Jenner, who has appeared on Keeping Up With the Kardashians since 2007, has become a transgender icon, generating both praise and mockery.

At last month's Mummers Parade, she became the subject of debate when the Finnegan New Year's Brigade performed a skit that poked fun at her gender change.

"Finnegan Goes for the Gold" was the title of the act, timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Bruce Jenner's gold medal in the decathlon in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

While 350 of the brigade's 360 participants were dressed in red, white, and blue costumes, 10 were dressed as medical workers; members of the Kardashian family; or Jenner as a man or a woman.

Some members held up signs that showed Bruce Jenner's image on a 1976 Wheaties box and Caitlyn Jenner's image on a 2016 box of Froot Loops cereal.

The act was derided by many and prompted Mayor Kenney to tweet that the mocking of Jenner was "hurtful to many Philadelphians." Kenney later ordered the Human Relations Commission and his cabinet to work on making changes to the parade to avoid similar incidents.

Some critics have proposed that she orchestrated her transition and its media coverage to make money. In response, Jenner said, "You do not need to transition to make money. . . . You don't do it unless you know deep down in your soul that it's the right thing to do. If I can't be honest with myself about what I'm doing, I'm no good for anything."

Bissinger, a former Inquirer reporter, has written about his own gender identity, including his cross-dressing. Fliers at the event said a film crew was shooting it for a documentary on Bissinger.

He is working with Jenner on her memoir, with hopes of an early 2017 release. The progress, Jenner admitted with a laugh, is slow: There are already 1,000 pages of transcript, even though Jenner has responded to only one of Bissinger's questions.

"I do hope people see Caitlyn for what she is," Bissinger said before the event. "A human being who has gone through a tremendous amount of pain in her life to get where she is now."

Questions for the one-hour panel were screened in advance, and members of the news media were told they could not take photographs inside.

Jenner was the subject of controversy before her transition. In January, she settled a lawsuit related to a 2015 car crash that left a 70-year-old woman dead, and last week, she sued another driver involved in the crash.

Jenner has also been criticized for her estranged relationship with the four children she had before marrying Kris Jenner.

jcastellano@phillynews.com

215-854-2823@jill_castellano