Bruce Jenner's second wife and mother of his sons, Brandon and Brody Jenner, actress/lyricist Linda Thompson, 64, wrote an article titled 'How Living With and Loving Bruce Jenner Changed My Life Forever'. In the piece, Linda explains how Bruce came to her in 1985 and told her 4 years after they got married that he wanted to become a woman. This actually led to their divorce."If Bruce had told me about his gender issue when we first began getting romantically involved, I would not have married him. Pure and simple."Linda writes. Her story is quite touching. Read below..
By now, Bruce Jenner has revealed his struggle with gender dysphoria. I never would have dared to speak on this issue before he was comfortable enough to do so first. It is, after all,his truth, so I knew he should be afforded the dignity to reveal that truth on his own time and in the way he sees fit. I have respectfully kept his secrets private and would have taken his confidences to my grave had he not spoken out.
Bruce and Linda got married in 1981, days after he finalized divorce from his first wife But now, many years into his remarkable life, he has spoken out. His legacy will likely be sprinkled with references like "Olympian," "decathlon gold medalist," "world's greatest athlete," "son," "brother," "husband," "father," "grandfather," "friend," and, hopefully, "pioneer" and "trailblazer for the civil rights of the transgender community."
So as much as this is about Bruce, it's not all about him. The sharing of my experience is meant to enlighten and inform -- to lend a modicum of comfort and support for all those disenfranchised, struggling, discriminated-against, searching souls.
Bruce's story and his struggle are uniquely his; my experiences with Bruce are commensurately uniquely my own. Following is a brief history of my time with Bruce -- a life experience that shaped my existence immeasurably. Linda (former Miss Tennessee USA) dated Elvis Presley for four years and lived with him until a year before he died One hot Memphis night in July 1976, Elvis (yes,thatElvis) and I were watching the Summer Olympics that were being held in Montréal. We were lying in bed (our usual perch) at Graceland and had been watching the telecast for days. We were pretty closely following the American athlete Bruce Jenner, who was dominating the decathlon competition. Bruce was on the final lap of his last race, the 10th event, and as he crossed the finish line to win the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon competition, distinguishing himself as the "world's greatest athlete," Elvis and I were exuberant about the win for the United States! We were also commenting on what an amazing specimen of a man Bruce Jenner was. Elvis remarked, "Damn if that guy is not handsome! I'm not gay, but damn, he's good-looking!" I quite agreed and teasingly said, '"Wow! He is gorgeous! I'm going to marry that guy someday!" Elvis replied, "Yeah, sure, honey, over my dead body." I met Bruce Jenner at a celebrity tennis tournament three years later, in the spring of 1979. The tournament was a benefit for the John Tracy Clinic for deaf children. The event was held at the Playboy Mansion. I had never been to the mansion before, but Bruce had been living there part-time since his separation from his then-wife Chrystie. I was a regular cast member on the TV variety showHee Hawand a fledgling actress of some note (think Aaron Spelling shows), so I was invited to the mansion to hand out the winning trophies to the participants playing tennis. No surprise, Bruce won the tournament, and I presented him with his trophy. That's how we first met, on a tennis court. Bruce was clad in shorts and a sweaty T-shirt, his well-toned, muscular body still in Olympic form. He was sweet, shy, and very gentlemanly. He asked me if I came to the Playboy Mansion often, and I said, "Oh, gosh, no! I've never even been here before!" I remember thinking I didn't want to give him the wrong impression. I didn't want him to think I was an aspiring Playmate!
