The ESPY awards are planning to present Caitlyn Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award this July, but on social media many people have pushed the network to instead honor Lauren Hill, the 19-year-old Indiana basketball player who died this spring after battling with a rare, pediatric brain tumor.
Jenner, who formerly went by Bruce Jenner, revealed herself to the public as a woman for the first time on the cover of Vanity Fair. According to ESPN.com, it was announced soon after the reveal that Caitlyn Jenner would receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards in July. Hill was profiled on ESPN earlier in the year and she was able to "live out her dream" playing college basketball and she also raised awareness of her condition.
The hashtag #LaurenHillESPY started trending soon after the Jenner news came out and many around the sports media also rallied around Hill. Doug Gottlieb from CBS and others put out support for Hill, according to WTHR.com. Some others on Twitter also suggested that Leah Still, the daughter of Devon Still from the Bengals who has cancer, should also be a nominee.
According to the Associated Press, ESPY Awards show producer Maura Mandt said that Jenner "can help to educate people on the challenges that the transgender community faces." WTHR reports that an online petition was started in support of Hill and it comes as the ESPYs are set for July 15 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, marking the annual event for the sports world.
Hill's family said to NBC's WLWT in Cincinnati: "She was able to touch lives and show everybody her courage and dig deep and play the sport that she loved and make her dreams happen and inspire everybody," the family said.
Check here for more on the social media talk about Hill and Jenner.
