Caitlyn Jenner Gets Emotional In Receiving ESPY Courage Award; 'Trans People Deserve Your Respect'

Caitlyn Jenner stunned the audience of the ESPY Awards after delivering his speech about his journey from being a former Olympian to declaring himself a transgender and urging the audience to respect trans people.

The 65-year old former Olympian is this year's recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award from ESPN, a choice that met a lot of controversies and tribulations earlier.

"Trans people deserve something vital: They deserve your respect. If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is, I can take it," she said. "But for the thousands of kids out there, coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it," the reality TV father said as reported by Washington Post.

Clad in a classic white Versace gown, Caitlyn opened his speech by thanking the audience for the opportunity and candidly, asking them to consider his fashion sense as he is new to it.

"Picking out this outfit - O.K., girls, I get it! [Laughter.] You got to get the shoes, the hair the makeup, the while process. It was exhausting. And next, the fashion police - please be kind on me, I'm new at this."

Later during the 13-minute speech, Cris Jenner's ex-husband mentioned the struggles of being transgender especially among teenagers who are still figuring out their identities.

"My plea to you tonight is to join me in making this one of your issues as well. How do we start? We start with education. I was fortunate to meet Arthur Ashe a few times and I know how important education was to him. Learn as much as you can about another person to understand them better."

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award, named for the African American tennis star who died of AIDS in 1993, is a very prestigious award given to athletes "who has done something that transcends sport," as ESPY Awards co-executive producer Mandt Schell said in defense to Jenner.

Former recipients of the Award are Jim Valvano, Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Billie Jean King, former women's college basketball coach Pat Summitt, Good Morning America's Robin Roberts and Michael Sam, the NFL league's first openly gay player, USA Today said.

Previously, rumors have circulated saying that ESPN bestowed the Courage Award to Caitlyn in exchange for plugs on her upcoming E! docuseries, The Globe and Mail reported.

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz later on clarified them as merely rumors.

"That rumour is completely false. The Arthur Ashe Courage Award and ABC interview were never connected," he said.