When Bruce Jenner - Olympic Gold Medalist, family man, and Kardashian patriach - decided that he would go forward as a woman, his transformation became one of the most controversial topics of the year. And when he finally revealed himself as Caitlyn Jenner, she had to endure a lot of hate from critics, questioning her motivation, cruelly or otherwise.

For all that she had to go through before, during, and after her transformation, she deserved that Arthur Ashe Award for Courage that was recently given to her at the ESPYS.

After all her years of being a man, it takes a great deal of courage to finally reveal herself as she truly is.

In her speech, Caitlyn shared about being in the spotlight all her life, telling the audience that even before her transformation, she already knew the power of being in the middle of it all, but she knows she has to do something about it to make a difference.

She said. "with attention comes responsibility."

She went on to hope to inspire other people who went through the same things she did regarding her identity.

"If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there who are coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it."

It wasn't about her. Toward the end of her speech, she called for others to be more accepting. "It's about what happens from here. It's not just about one person, it's about thousands of people. It's not just about me, it's about all of us accepting one another. We're all different. That's not a bad thing."

While she may not have the support of the entire world, she's grateful that she did have her family's support - including that of her mother's, her sister's, and the nine adult children that she had present in the audience.

She told them tearfully, "The biggest fear in Caitlyn Jenner coming out was I never wanted to hurt anyone else, most of all my family and my kids. I'm so, so grateful to have all of you in my life. Thank you."

Check out her entire speech in the video below, or if you want to, here's the full transcript as printed by The New York Daily News: