“He’s managed something that’s very challenging with great style and great intelligence.”
Growing up can have its difficult moments and when you add in famous parents to the mix, it presents a whole new set of challenges. For the children of celebrities, they’re forced to grow up in the spotlight — and when these Hollywood offspring chose to share something as personal identity, it was of utmost importance to have supportive parents by their side.
Celebs like Jamie Lee Curtis and Dwyane Wade, who both have transgender children, have become shining examples of how to be fully supportive parents as their children live their truth. Thanks to their love and compassion, their children are safe and free to be who they are, without worry of what anyone else thinks.
Here’s what these celeb parents had to say about their transgender children…
Jamie Lee Curtis recently revealed that her daughter Ruby came out as transgender last year. While Jamie Lee admits she didn’t have “an inkling” that Ruby was trans before she told the family, she was immediately supportive — and is even going to officiate her upcoming wedding. Curtis says that even though she’s still learning, she hopes that their journey as a family can help others going through the same thing.
“It’s speaking a new language. It’s learning new terminology and words. I am new at it. I am not someone who is pretending to know much about it. And I’m going to blow it, I’m going to make mistakes. I would like to try to avoid making big mistakes…But if one person reads this, sees a picture of Ruby and me and says, ‘I feel free to say this is who I am,’ then it’s worth it,” Jamie Lee told People.
2. Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade has been incredibly supportive of his 13-year-old daughter Zaya, who came out as transgender last year. He says that the teen has known about her gender identity since she was a toddler and the family has been having conversations and learning from her over the past decade. He wants their experiences to make an impact on others, especially other families who also have transgender children.
“My daughter was my first interaction when it comes to having to deal with this conversation. Hopefully I’m dealing with it the right way. Some people feel that I’m not. But inside our home, we see the smile on her face. We see the confidence that she’s able to walk around and be herself. And that’s when you know you’re doing right…We as the Wade family, we have to be the ones to have each other’s back. For us it was important that Zaya understood that her family has her back,” Dwyane said on “Good Morning America.”
In 2018, Cynthia Nixon revealed that her son Seph is transgender, on Trans Day of Action, no less. She says that while she felt like Seph’s announcement “came out of nowhere,” she couldn’t have been more proud once he shared his truth.
“I’m very proud of him. It’s one of those things…It was really nice, actually, when we announced it. There was some general, you know, voicings of support but generally it was not a big deal. I was kind of shocked at what a non-event it was, which is just how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time,” Cynthia told Us Weekly.
Charlize Theron does a pretty good job keeping her children out of the spotlight, but in 2019, she revealed that her daughter Jackson had come out to her as transgender when she was just three-years-old. Although she believes Jackson’s story is the little girl’s own to tell one day, she says she shared the news because she wanted the press to use her daughter’s correct pronouns.
“I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive. They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide. My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be. And I will do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that,” Charlize told Daily Mail.
5. Cher
Cher’s son Chaz, whom she shares with the late Sonny Bono, came out as transgender and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2009. A year later, at age 40, he legally changed his name and gender, going on to publicly share his transition in the 2011 documentary “Becoming Chaz.” Although Cher says that she had spoken with Chaz about his gender identity through the years, it was tough to process — but now she’s just glad that he’s happier than ever.
“I was really supportive as we had talked about it over the years. But I admit it was difficult in the beginning. It was hard for a mother. I had this one child and I was waiting for the new child. There was this part in between where you don’t know what you are going to have. You don’t know what your relationship is going to be. It was a scary period – the unknown is always really frightening. [But now] Chaz is unbelievably happy…Now it doesn’t make any difference as I don’t feel a loss at all. The loss I thought I was going to feel, I don’t feel one iota,” Cher told The Mirror.
6. Annette Bening & Warren Beatty
Annette Bening and Warren Beatty’s son Stephen told them he is transgender when he was 14-years-old and they’ve been supportive of him ever since. While Annette is often private about her family life, she says she is “very proud of her son.” Now in his late 20s, Stephen is a writer and works to support the LGBTQ+ community.
“He’s managed something that’s very challenging with great style and great intelligence. He’s an articulate, thoughtful person, and I’m very, very proud of him,” Annette told AARP.
7. Sade
Sade’s son Izaak publicly came out as transgender in 2016. Since then, he’s been documenting his journey on Instagram, including an extensive recovery period after gender confirmation surgery. While Sade has not spoken out about Izaak, he shared a post expressing how much his mother had helped him through the trying period.
“Thank you for staying by my side these past 6 months Mumma. Thank you for fighting with me to complete the man I am. Thank you for your encouragement when things are hard, for the love you give me. The purest heart. I love you so much. Queen of queens,” Izaak wrote.
8. Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy’s son Beckett came out as transgender as a teenager and began his transition while in college. Ally says that she did as much research as possible when Beckett began to take hormones so that she could support him as best as possible.
“I respect Beckett. I admire him. I think he’s just a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, fabulous person…I think my journey with him has been a back and forth of a balancing act of wanting to support him, being scared for him, recognizing that I need to learn from him, letting go of feeling like I need to protect them from the world and just trusting him and going along with his journey,” Ally said on the “We Are Family” podcast.
In 2019, former “Real Housewife” Cindy Barshop revealed that one of her young twins is transgender. Cindy says she knew Jesse was transgender when he was just three-years-old, but he chose not to publicly share his gender identity until he was nine. Since then, she has been vocal about her support for the LGBTQ+ community and has spoken out when she has seen injustices. And when Jesse was upset by an actor’s comments about trans children being unable to decide their gender identity so young, Cindy spoke out.
“Trans children, they know their identity. It’s not about sexuality and that is the most important thing. Because people are like, ‘Well, how do they know?’ It’s an identity change, not a sexuality. So that’s the one clarification I want to make. And you have to be open with your children,” Cindy told People.
10. Colin Mochrie
Colin Mochrie’s daughter Kinley came out as transgender when she was 25. While Colin says his first reaction was fear for her safety, he has been nothing but supportive of her decisions. Whenever Kinley or their family face criticism online, he is sure to speak out.
“My 90-yr-old mother-in-law and 87-yr-old mother love and acceptance of our trans daughter warms me. Wonder why some who are younger can’t,” Colin once wrote on Twitter.
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