75% of British people are actively positive or have no issue with Caitlyn Jenner's groundbreaking Vanity Fair cover - but digging below the figures reveals a more nuanced picture
It's a sign of the times that when Vanity Fair featured for the first time a transgender person on its iconic front cover, the loudest criticisms had nothing to do with Bruce Jenner becoming Caitlyn. That a person could change their gender was passé - the concern was that you had to be a rich celebrity, and you had to look like a pin up model, to get the world's attention.
When asked for their reaction in one word to former Olympic athlete and celebrity Kardashian family member Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover, the vast majority of the responses are either actively positive (36%) or neutral (38%). Only 25% are negative, and not all of these are opposed to the gender issue per se - 'photoshopped' and 'over the top' crop up a few times, while others are confused rather than outrightly opposed.
Of the positive reactions, many say they feel proud, have admiration or are empowered by the image. Another popular response is envy - respondents wishing they looked as good as Caitlyn - which could equally be read as a criticism of glossy magazine culture or applause for the subject.
But the sentiment with the greatest representation is indifference. 38% of British people simply don't mind or understand why we are even asking about a magazine cover featuring a transgender person.
YouGov's polling also finds that 33% of British people have met a transgender person and 7% have a transgender person as a friend, family member or colleague. There is no census data on the transgender population of the UK, because the question asks for a binary response. Those who do not identify as either male or female have been advised that they can choose both options, however given the 50 plus gender options available to Facebook users, the response has been unsatisfactory for many.
