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Sacramento Transgender Advocates Call For Sensitivity To Bruce Jenner's Transition

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Former Olympian Bruce Jenner has sparked a firestorm in the media as the public speculates about his transition from a man to a woman.

Local and national transgender groups are calling for sensitivity, and denouncing those who are turning Jenner's journey into a punchline.

He's a gold-medal Olympian known for his stamina and his famous family. Now according to numerous reports, Jenner has a different challenge ahead of him.

Rachel Hudson with the Sacramento Gender Health Center went through the change, born a man and later in life changing her sex.

"I thought I was the only one, and I was ashamed and I hid it. I hid it for many many years," she said. "In 1999 I realized that transitioning was what I wanted to do, but I had a wife, I had a house, I had a son, I had a good job, and I knew transitioning I could lose all of those."

Hudson, like many other transgender advocates nationwide is calling for tact as it seems Jenner's assumed journey has turned into a punchline.

"If they want to come out, they should be the one that comes out, it shouldn't be the media forcing them to come out," she said.

She insists the process of transitioning isn't funny, and is incredibly difficult. She is calling for the paparazzi and the puns to stop.

"Jenner is going through something very personal, something they need to figure out on their own, it's a serious thing, it's not a joke, they're not doing it for fun, they're doing it to be their authentic self," she said.

With transgendered people much more prone to depression and suicide, she hopes the call is heard—respect everyone.

"This is something that I think could push somebody over the edge as a transperson," she said.

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