Now that Bruce Jenner has finally revealed his long-held secret, his family is speaking out to show their support and to promote understanding and awareness of what it means to undergo a gender transition.
“Bruce is the most honest … He has the biggest heart and I’m really happy for him that he is living his life the way he wants to live it and that he has found inner peace and just pure happiness,” said Kim Kardashian West in a taped segment on the Today show on Monday. “That’s what life is about. I don’t know what life would be like if you always felt like you weren’t yourself.”
The reality star, 34, went on to acknowledge that she – and most of the general public – could never truly understand what her stepfather is going through, but, “I don’t even think we have to,” she says. “I think as long as he is happy and he wants to live his life however he wants to live it, that just makes me happy and I support him 100 percent.”
See The Life of Caitlyn Jenner
At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Bruce Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon, setting the world record at 8,616 points.Getty ImagesJenner became a national hero following his Olympic win and was later inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986.Tony Duffy—Getty ImagesJenner became an NBC Sportscaster in the late 1970s following his Olympic performance in Montreal.NBC/Getty ImagesJenner married actress Linda Thompson, above, on Jan. 5, 1981, following his divorce with Chrystie Crownover.Getty ImagesJenner was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. In October of 1985, he received the Outstanding Learning Disabled Achiever Award from then-First Lady Nancy Reagan alongside stars such as Cher and Tom Cruise.Getty ImagesJenner was a successful race car driver in the 1980s, though in a 2013 interview he said, "I was a lot more badass runner than I was a driver.”Ann Clifford—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesIn 1991, Jenner married Kris Jenner, previously Kris Kardashian, just one month after she finalized her divorce from Robert Kardashian. The two had dated for only five months.Maureen Donaldson—Getty ImagesTheir marriage merged two already large families, evident here in this 1991 portrait.Donaldson Collection/Getty ImagesAfter his sports career, Jenner, seen here at a celebrity golf event in 1993, had a number of small acting jobs and television appearances.Stephen Dunn—Getty ImagesThe family poses at an event in 1995, the year Jenner and Kris welcomed the first of their two children together, Kendall Jenner.Ron Galella—WireImageKylie Jenner was born two years later in 1997. The girls can be seen here on the red carpet in 2000, long before they covered magazines and appeared on TIME's Most Influential Teens list.Scott Nelson—AFP/Getty ImagesJenner, seen here in 2005, would re-enter the spotlight thanks to Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which first premiered in 2007.Steve Granitz—WireImageJenner spoofed his reality-star fame with a commercial for Tropicana Juicy Rewards in 2010.APJenner and Kris, here at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2011, announced their separation in 2013. She filed for divorce the following year.Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesJenner poses with a box of Wheaties in 2012. He appeared on the front of the box first in 1977 after his Olympic gold-medal win, then in 2012 when Wheaties rolled out a retro series.Noel Vasquez—Getty ImagesJenner appears with two of his sons, TV personality Brody Jenner and musician Brandon Jenner, who records with his wife as Brandon & Leah, at an April 2013 release party.Chelsea Lauren—WireImageJenner walks with step-daughter Kim Kardashian in October of 2014 — about five months after rapper Kanye West became his son-in-law.Bauer-Griffin—GC ImagesCaitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, appeared as a woman for the first time on the cover of Vanity Fair's June 2015 issue, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.Annie Leibovitz—Vanity FairCaitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during The 2015 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles.Kevin Winter—Getty Images
Kardashian West also admitted that learning of Jenner’s intent to transition was a “hard adjustment” and that “there still is an adjustment and there is family therapy. We’re really close … We all really support him.”
“Say what you want about us,” she told Today host Matt Lauer, “but we work out everything as a family and we have the best communication and we are so in sync with each other. … We have each other to go through this experience, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Of the increased attention Jenner, 65, can expect moving forward, Kardashian West said that her stepfather is “ready for the next challenge and ready to help other people that might be going through the same things that he is going through and that’s something that he’s really proud of and something that he is really ready to take on and I’m really proud of him for that.”
Indeed, Jenner is on a “mission” to help people, as a source previously told PEOPLE. “He wants to help make a difference for people struggling with empowerment. And it’s not just about those who are transgender, but those who are bullied or face discrimination, whether it’s racial, sexual, religious, any ‘differences’. He feels very strongly about this.”
