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Linda Thompson addresses Bruce Jenner's gender transition

The singer-songwriter was married to Jenner from 1981 to 1986.

By Annie Martin
Linda Thompson supports ex-husband Bruce Jenner's gender transition. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
1 of 4 | Linda Thompson supports ex-husband Bruce Jenner's gender transition. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

MALIBU, Calif., April 27 (UPI) -- Linda Thompson has addressed ex-husband Bruce Jenner's gender transition.

The 64-year-old singer penned an op-ed for the Huffington Post published after Jenner's interview with Diane Sawyer aired Friday. The highly-anticipated television special saw the 65-year-old reality star confirm he is indeed transitioning from a man to a woman he calls "Her" for now.

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Thompson and Jenner were married from 1981 to 1986, and have two children together: sons Brandon and Brody Jenner. Jenner revealed he is transgender during the marriage, and Thompson confessed she initially sought to "fix" the Olympian with therapy.

"I was pretty ignorant of the fact that being transgender isn't something that can be overcome, fixed, prayed away, exorcised or obliterated by any other arcane notion," she wrote. "Being transgender, like being gay, tall, short, white, black, male, or female, is another part of the human condition that makes each individual unique, and something over which we have no control."

"As devastated as I was, my heart bled for Bruce and what he must have lived with his entire life," she recalled. "It's impossible for those of us who are comfortable living in our own skin to fully grasp what an imprisonment that must feel like to be born into the wrong body."

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"My hope and my prayer is that humanity has evolved enough and been properly educated to exercise kindness toward those who have struggled or who we may perceive to be 'different,'" she concluded. "I pray we may all challenged ourselves to delve into the deepest resources of our hearts to cultivate an atmosphere of understanding, acceptance, tolerance and compassion."

Jenner will document his transition on a new E! reality series scheduled to premiere July 26. The reality star has not yet revealed his new name nor indicated he would like to be called by female pronouns.

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