6 celeb parents who proudly support their trans kids – including Jamie Lee Curtis
Ruby Guest, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Annie Guest at the Universal Pictures world premiere of “Halloween Ends” on October 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/FilmMagic)
Jamie Lee Curtis is a prime example of how the love and support from parents – whether they’re celebs or not – can make all the difference for trans people, both adults and kids alike.
Unconditional love and support from loved ones can be crucial for LGBTQ+ people coming to terms with their sexuality or gender identity.
For video editor and YouTuber Ruby Guest, that support comes courtesy of her actor mother, Jamie Lee Curtis. Since Guest came out publicly, Curtis has championed her daughter and trans rights more broadly, using her incredible platform to demand respect.
On Friday (28 July), the actor declared that being a “parent is about love”, underlining how she’s willing to “fight and defend” her daughter’s “right to exist to anyone who claims that she doesn’t”.
Curtis also emphasised the importance of learning and listening, acknowledging that she doesn’t “know everything”. They’re crucial life lessons she’s had to learn given the “really challenging time” for the trans community in the US, she said, as “awful political rhetoric” remains rife.
It’s no secret that trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people – children and adults – are under attack across the states, with lawmakers intent on restricting gender-affirming healthcare and their ability to use bathroom facilities that align with their identity. Violence against the community is also rife.
Having a parent stand so proudly and firmly by her daughter’s side during these turbulent times is refreshing to see.
As the Everything Everywhere All at Once star said in a Trans Visibility Day post, a “mother’s love knows no judgement”. Or at least, that’s what many hope for.
In the same post Curtis emphatically stated she stands in “total solidarity with [her] children as they move forward in the universe as their authentic selves”.
Other famous parents have shown how loving a trans child can be transformative
Cher is, of course, an LGBTQ+ icon in her own right, and she’s also a proud mum of actor Chaz Bono.
The singer admitted she didn’t handle her son’s transition “all that well in the beginning”, but their relationship became “fabulous” after she put in the work to understand his experience.
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade are proud parents to all their children, including daughter Zaya. Since sharing her trans identity with the world in 2020, the couple have continuously shown their love and support for Zaya.
The pair have said they don’t approach their work as trans allies as “activists or leaders” as such as they do as “parents who love [their] children and will do whatever the hell [they] can to keep them seen and secure and safe”.
In 2018, Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon shared that her son, Samuel, is trans in a sweet Instagram post celebrating his graduation from the University of Chicago. When reflecting on her son’s coming out moment, she said it’s crucial that parents and humans “listen to what people tell you about themselves”.
Charlize Theron has been supporting her daughter’s gender exploration from a young age and told the Daily Mail back in 2019 that it’s “not for [her] to decide” where the journey takes her children.
Instead, she’s there 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”.
In 2022, Breakfast Club star Ally Sheedy said she’s “learned a lot” from her trans kid’s journey and wanted to give Beckett “room to run” in his journey.
