On Monday, 65-year-old Caitlyn Jenner revealed her identity as a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair. The picture, circulating around the internet, has already been seen by millions. Jenner is photographed in a sexy white corset and little else. Caitlyn Jenner was previously known as Bruce Jenner, winner of the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal in the decathlon. As a handsome, sculpted, athletic American man, he was the epitome of masculinity. However loved by the country, Jenner described her former self as never being completely content. Jenner told her Vanity Fair interviewer, Buzz Bissinger, how little the public world knew about her. She recounted an interview after winning her gold medal in 1976. She said, “underneath my suit I have a bra and panty hose and this and that and (I’m) thinking to myself, they know nothing about me. … Little did they know I was totally empty inside.” Jenner is now relieved that she no longer has to live a lie.

Following the revelation of her new identity, Jenner’s newly opened Twitter account broke the Guinness World Record for most number of Twitter followers in the shortest amount of time: over 1 million in less than two days. Her Twitter has exploded for a number of reasons. First, Jenner is a member of the Kardashian family. Even though she veered from the trend of having a “K” name, she is still the stepfather of Kourtney, Khloe, Kim, Kendall, Kyle, and Rob, and biological father of Brandon, Cassandra, Burt and Brody Jenner.

Jenner’s reveal focuses attention on the transgender community and issues faced by its members, many people in the transgender community do not have the benefits that Jenner does. 64% of transgender people make less than $25,000 a year. Only 5.9% of the heterosexual population make less than $10,000, while 14% of the transgender community make less than $10,000. Up to 68% of transgender people report discrimination in the workplace (American Psychological Association). Jenner’s transition surgeries cost almost $200,000, according to ENT specialist and plastic surgeon Dr. Alessi. Most people with dysphoria, or dissatisfaction with one’s gender, cannot afford such costly surgery. Although Jenner’s transformation was one of the most expensive, complete, and well-­done, even basic plastic surgeries are cripplingly expensive.

Some small-minded people claim that being transgender is a trend among the younger, more free­-spirited generation, or unchristian. There is a creed in the Bible that says that men must not wear women’s clothes. If a person (or God) wrote that a man should not wear a woman’s clothes, they must have seen a man in a woman’s clothes during the time when the Bible was written. Obviously, being transgender is not a “new trend.”

Caitlyn Jenner is a hero. ESPN recently announced they will award Jenner the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage this month. Some see other athletes as more deserving of this reward, and have reacted with angry tweets, articles, and protests. ESPN is giving Caitlyn Jenner the award because at 65, once an American hero during the ‘70s and popular among an older, typically more conservative generation, she decided to break all social barriers and come out and be true to herself. She is brave. It isn’t often we see a hero, but it’s even less common we see a hero who’s brave enough to show the public his or her true self.