ESPY Awards: Caitlyn Jenner gets Arthur Ashe Courage Award as Kendall and Kylie hit red carpet

CAITLYN Jenner has accepted her first award since announcing her transition, calling for respect and compassion towards the transgender community.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 15: Honoree Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during The 2015 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

CAITLYN Jenner has accepted her first award since announcing her transition, calling for respect and compassion towards the transgender community.

The former Olympian, 65, received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, as her proud children and stepchildren looked on.

Powerful speech ... Caitlyn Jenner weeps as she accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPYS.

“The real truth is that before just a few months ago, I had never met anybody else who was trans,” Jenner said.

“Now as you saw, I deal with my situation on my own, in private. It’s been eye-opening, inspiring, but also frightening.”

Jenner told the audience trans people deserved “something vital” and it was time to “accept people for who they are.”

Brave ... Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Hope for others ... Caitlyn Jenner has called for acceptance.

“They (trans people) deserve your respect. And from that respect, comes a more compassionate community, a more empathetic society, and a better world for all of us,” she said.

She spoke of the importance of helping trans youth with their struggles and said athletes, as role models, had a responsibility to lead by example.

Another life ... Bruce Jenner, pictured in 1984, won the 1976 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal.

“They’re (trans youth) getting bullied,” Jenner told the audience. “They’re getting beaten up. They’re getting murdered. And they’re committing suicide.”

“With attention, comes responsibility. As a group, as athletes, how you conduct your lives, what you say, what you do, is absorbed and observed by millions of people, especially young people,” she told the room. “I know I’m clear with my responsibility.”

Family support ... Kendall, Khloe, Kylie, Kim and Kourtney in the audience. Picture: Getty

Caitlyn, who has become a fashion icon since transitioning, was wearing a form-fitting, lng-sleeved white dress by Sex and the City designer Patricia Field.

Earlier, Caitlyn’s daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner hit the red carpet at the ESPY Awards in a show of support for their dad.

The whole Kardashian and Jenner crew is at the #ESPYS waiting for Caitlyn Jenner's moment. http://t.co/JWKLowd9Wh pic.twitter.com/3vCVRgGeN5

— Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 16, 2015

The sisters stunned onlookers with their dazzling outfits — Kendall, 19, was elegant in a black long-sleeved gown, and Kylie, 17, channelled the 70s in a shimmering gold dress.

ESPY Awards glamour

Her son Brody, 31, from her second marriage, is also attending the event.

Show of support ... Brody Jenner and Kaitlynn Carter are backing Caitlyn.

Since transitioning, Caitlyn has thrown herself into life in the transgender community, describing it as “liberating” and “fantastic”.

Originally published as ESPY Awards: Caitlyn Jenner gets Arthur Ashe Courage Award as Kendall and Kylie hit red carpet