Caitlyn Jenner Honored for Transgender Activism: 'I Am Just Excited About the Future'

Caitlyn Jenner is one of Glamour's Women of the Year

Photo: Ben Hassett

A day after marking her “first” birthday since transitioning, Caitlyn Jenner has another reason to celebrate.

Glamour has named the Olympic champion as one of its Women of the Year, the magazine announced Thursday.

Jenner, 66, is being recognized for her advocacy work. Ever since revealing that she was “born with the soul of a female” to Diane Sawyer in April and making her stylish debut as a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair , she’s used her celebrity status as a platform for issues that disproportionately affect the transgender community, like suicide and bullying.

Why did she decide to shine a spotlight on a journey she kept secret for more than 50 years?

“I started thinking, Maybe this is why God put me on earth. This issue has been swept under the rug for so long,” Jenner tells Glamour. “I need to tell this story on the highest level you can possibly do it. Not just for me but for this entire community.”

She’ll continue to share that story on her docuseries I Am Cait , which E! recently renewed for a second season.

“I am just excited about the future for the first time in a long, long time. And that is a nice feeling to have,” she says. “To be honest with you, if the worst thing in the world that happens to you is you are trans, you ve got it made.”

Victoria Beckham, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Holmes, Cecile Richards, Reese Witherspoon, the U.S. women’s national soccer team and the women from the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting are also being honored at Glamour‘s 25th Anniversary Women of the Year Awards. The ceremony will take place Nov. 9 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.