Concerning the cover choice for Caitlyn's coming out

Caitlyn Jenner is a beautiful woman, and I wish her well. Being photographed by Annie Leibovitz is a great honor, and I can imagine Caitlyn's delight in seeing herself, as she's always seen herself in her mind's eye, through Leibovitz's lens. 

I only wish she had chosen a different presentation for her coming-out as Caitlyn. We live in a society which continues to objectify women as sex objects, and while there is some comfort in seeing this most famous of trans women being objectified like any other woman, I'm concerned that this form of "equality" sends the wrong message to America. 

Jenner did a superb job in her interview with Diane Sawyer, as did Sawyer in presenting trans women in a very positive light. Jenner's humility and basic human decency and self-respect was evident throughout. And while many of us would love to be shot by Ms. Leibovitz, to have one's first public photo be a cover girl bustier shot, rather than a portrait of a professional and accomplished woman, may distort the reality of trans lives and push us back into being perceived as being driven by sexuality. Trans women, like all women, are much more than sex objects. 

I know the rest of the LGBT community will continue to tell our stories, and will use the increased attention to the trans community now being paid thanks to the Jenner interview to benefit the entire community."

Dana Beyer is a retired eye surgeon who was a candidate for the Maryland state Senate in 2014. She is currently executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, the state’s trans political organization which worked the gender identity bill to passage in 2014. She is chair of the national advisory board of Freedom to Work and writes a weekly column for the Huffington Post. She recently served on the Rules Committee of the national Democratic Party, has twice run for state Delegate in Maryland District 18, and is a member of the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame.