( CNN ) Actress Linda Thompson , Bruce Jenner 's second wife , says she can `` breathe a little easier '' knowing her ex-husband has found the strength to publicly declare he is transgender . In a two-hour special that aired Friday , the Olympic gold medalist and `` Keeping Up With The Kardashians '' star said he has the `` soul of a female '' even though he was born with male body parts . Thompson , who had two sons with Jenner during their five-year marriage , was one of many relatives to cheer Jenner for publicly sharing what she had known for decades . `` I have respectfully kept his secrets private and would have taken his confidences to my grave had he not spoken out , '' she said in a column for the Huffington Post . `` He can finally realize his need to be who he authentically is , who he was born to be . That takes tremendous courage . For that I commend him . '' Thompson wrote that she would not have married Jenner if she had known about his `` gender issue '' when they first met . But she 's glad she did n't know because she would have missed the chance to share a life with him , including their two sons . `` Looking back , I 'm so grateful to God , the universe , and Bruce that I did n't know , and that Bruce played the role in my life that he did , '' she said in the column . The two met in 1979 at a celebrity tennis tournament at the Playboy Mansion , while Jenner was in the process of separating from his first wife . The two married on January 5 , 1981 , and made Hawaii their home . Their first son , Brandon , was born in 1981 , followed by son Brody in 1983 . `` The Bruce I knew back then was an easygoing , down-to-earth , casual , romantic , good and loving man . I was extremely happy to have found such a remarkable partner with whom to share my life . I found him to be honorable and , well , just too good to be true . Just too good to be true indeed , '' she wrote . They were a celebrity `` glamour couple '' of the time , appearing regularly on red carpets , hosting charitable fundraisers and traveling the world together for their careers . Jenner 's star grew , and was a man that other men aspired to be , and someone women wanted to be with . `` The Bruce I knew back then was unstudied , affable , and seemingly very comfortable in his own skin . So it seemed . '' Thompson said Jenner told her in 1985 that , despite it all , `` he identified as a woman '' and hoped to move forward with the process of becoming a woman . '' Confused and desperate , Thompson suggested therapy to help her understand what he was going through and `` determine if it was something we could overcome or 'fix . ' '' `` I was pretty ignorant of the fact that being transgender is n't something that can be overcome , fixed , prayed away , exorcised or obliterated by any other arcane notion , '' she said . He considered traveling out of the country for gender-confirmation surgery and returning to the United States identifying as female , where his children could meet him as `` Aunt Heather . '' They separated after going to therapy for about six months and Jenner began taking female hormones and removing his hair through electrolysis . As he started developing breasts , his children began to notice -- a claim that Jenner also made in his interview . Thompson says Jenner did not remain a presence in their lives after he married Kris Kardashian , mother of Kim , Khloe , Khourtney and Rob Kardashian . Together , the couple had two children , Kendall and Kylie . Thompson said she forgives Jenner for those years . He has already `` been held prisoner in his own flesh '' and hopes that his life will get easier now . In addition to `` world 's greatest athlete , '' she hopes people will remember him as `` trailblazer for the civil rights of the transgender community . ''
Bruce Jenner 's second wife Linda Thompson says she learned of his `` gender issues '' during their marriage . The couple married in 1977 and divorced a year later after he came out as gay to the world.