Caitlyn, formerly known as Bruce Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner made her public debut on Monday on the cover of Vanity Fair.

A photograph of Ms. Jenner, shot by Annie Leibovitz, accompanied an article on her transition to a woman after long identifying herself as a man named Bruce. It immediately became a sensation on social media when the magazine posted the article online.

Ms. Jenner, 65, who won an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon, has had a long public life. As Bruce Jenner, she had been on the cover of Playgirl, an author, an actor and most recently a part of the Kardashian family’s reality television empire. Earlier this year, reports emerged that she was undergoing gender reassignment surgery.

Bruce Jenner in 2013. Changes in his appearance have fueled speculation that he is making a gender transition.

The Transition of Bruce Jenner: A Shock to Some, Visible to All

FEB. 6, 2015, Bruce Jenner in 2014.

Bruce Jenner Says He’s Transitioning to a WomanAPRIL 24, 2015

The Vanity Fair article represents the latest in a carefully calibrated series of public steps by Ms. Jenner and her team, as she moves toward the debut of a new reality show on the E! network that will begin airing at the end of July. A Twitter account, in the name of Caitlyn Jenner, was started at the same time that the Vanity Fair article was published online. Within minutes the account had more than 150,000 followers.

In April, Ms. Jenner spoke to Diane Sawyer about the transition, but did not reveal her new name. The prime-time special on ABC drew almost 17 million viewers.

The Vanity Fair article was written by Buzz Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the author of the book “Friday Night Lights,” about a high school football team in Texas. The magazine had first thought of running an article on Ms. Jenner last year, a spokeswoman said, but it began taking shape this year when a publicist for Ms. Jenner contacted an editor at Vanity Fair.

“Bruce always had to tell a lie. He was always living that lie. Every day, he always had a secret,” Ms. Jenner said in a video posted to YouTube by Vanity Fair. “Caitlyn doesn’t have any secrets.”

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