Celebrating trans and non-binary lives is important year-round and celebrities such as Cher and Naomi Watts set the bar high for others to follow through their vocal support of their transgender children.
Unconditional love is crucial for everyone, but especially for children who are coming to terms with the sexuality and/or gender identity.
A 2023 report found LGBTQ+ people are much less likely to be happy in adulthood when they were not supported at home and school when they were younger.
Here are just some of the celebrities who proudly love and support their transgender children.
Dwyane Wade
Basketball legend Dwyane Wade has been a vocal supporter of his daughter Zaya, who came out as transgender publicly in 2020.
The former Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls shooting guard and his wife Gabrielle Union-Wade have previously taken a stand against bigots by fiercely championing Zaya’s identity in speeches, social media posts and interviews.
Naomi Watts
In April 2024, British actress Naomi Watts was spotted bursting with pride as she looked at her 15-year-old trans daughter Kai Schreiber at the Dior pre-fall fashion show in Brooklyn, New York.
Watts and Kai’s father Spotlight and Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber have been fully supportive of their trans daughter.
In 2022, the pair took to Instagram on Kai’s 14th birthday, to praise her, calling her “beautiful”, while Watts added that she was “beyond proud” to be her mum.
Cher
Pop icon Cher has been open about her support for trans son Chaz Bono. In 2020, she opened up about how their relationship improved after she put in the work to understand his experience.
“It took me a minute, because you’ve been with a child for 40 years, and then all of a sudden… but you know what? Chaz was so happy,” she said.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis is another star vocally supportive of a trans daughter: Ruby Guest, who came out in 2020.
The following year, the pair gave an interview about their shared journey in which Curtis said: “Freedom is the goal for all LGBTQIA+ human beings.”
Curtis, also seen in Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once, has repeatedly used her platform to advocate for the trans community.
Cynthia Nixon
Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon has been open about her son Samuel coming out as trans while he was a university student.
In 2020, the lesbian actress said she found the pronoun transition difficult, but over time it has all become “more natural”.
Marlon Wayans
White Chicks actor Marlon Wayans has fully embraced his transgender son Kai.
In an interview with The Breakfast Club, the award-winning comedian said: “Not his… their transition… but my transition as a parent – going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance.”
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron’s trans daughter Jackson, who she adopted in 2012, came out at a young age.
In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2019, the Oscar-winning star of Monster and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness said: “She looked at me when she was three years old and said: ‘I am not a boy’.”
Speaking to chat show host Jimmy Fallon the same year, Theron said: “My job as a parent is to celebrate [my children] 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.
“I grew up in a country [South Africa] where people lived with half-truths and lies and whispers and nobody said anything outright, and I was raised very specifically not to be like that.”
Heather Dubrow
In March of 2023, The Real Housewives of Orange County star, podcaster and entrepreneur told People magazine that her youngest child is transgender and goes by the name Ace.
Dubrow, who is married to plastic-surgeon Dr Terry Dubrow have four kids in total, three of whom who identify as LGBTQ+.
Their son Ace, was one of the reasons Dubrow returned to RHOC, saying: “I feel like our purpose is to keep these conversations going in other families.”
Dubrow opened up on the family’s decision to publicly announce Ace’s coming out on her podcast, Let’s Talk with Heath Dubrow: “The goal was to acknowledge who our incredible son is and show how much we love and support our child. We’re not hiding our son but trying to protect him from the world, as all parents want to do.
“So even though I don’t want to tell my children’s stories for them — and I never have, nor will I ever — something had to be said by us before someone else made a statement.”
Annette Bening
Academy Award nominee Annette Bening is a vocal ally for the LGBTQ+ community, and her advocacy stems partly from her personal life.
Her eldest son, Stephen Ira, is transgender. Bening has spoken with pride about his intelligence and strength throughout his transition journey. While prioritizing his privacy, Bening has also used her platform to address the challenges faced by transgender people.
Bening’s outspokenness is a recent development and it is fueled by the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Telling the panel on the American daytime talk show The View: “As time has gone, especially now, with what’s happening unfortunately in the political process that trans people are being used.
“Fear and ignorance are being stoked against trans people. We don’t have to judge – we have to love and understand.
“That’s how I feel.”
Khary Payton
Actor Khary Payton, best known for his role on The Walking Dead and the voice of DC comics character Cyborg in Teen Titans, has a transgender child.
In fact, his child’s experience inspired Tolo, a character Payton created for himself in the Dungeons & Dragons web series Encounter Party. The character, Tolo, is notable for being a transgender character within the fantasy world of D&D.
Talking about Tolo and his son: “The struggle and the fight that goes on within yourself, when you’re trying to figure out who you are, and the answers aren’t easy.
“So I wanted to have that lonely conversation that people have by themselves. I was like: ‘Here’s a moment where I can say it out loud,’ and they can do that.”
“And they know that they’re not alone.”
Jennifer Lopez
The “Jenny on the Block” used they/them pronouns when introducing her child Emme for an on-stage duet in 2022.
“I ask them to sing with me all the time, but they won’t so this is a special occasion,” the singer said before introducing Emme at the L.A. Dodgers Foundation’s Blue Diamond Gala.
The singer joked that they are “very very busy” and “pricey” but went on to say that her child is: “Worth every single penny because they’re my favorite duet partner of all time.”
A clip of the introduction went viral on TikTok, with many praising Lopez for using Emme’s correct pronouns.
Cindy Barshop
The Real Housewives of New York alum revealed to People Magazine in 2019 that one of her twins is transgender.
Speaking to the magazine, Barshop said that trans children “know their identity” and that being trans “isn’t about sexuality.”
The RHoNY continued: “That’s the most important thing because people are like ‘Well how do they know?’
“Be open and listen to your children, they know.”
Busy Philipps
The actress known for her roles in Cougar Town, Girls5Eva and the 2024 version of Mean Girls has opened up about her experiences as a parent and navigating her child’s gender identity. Birdie, her child came out as non-binary but has recently switched back to using she/her pronouns.
Philips told LGBTQ Nation that her moment of growth came when she realised she had to educate herself.
“I got to figure this out on my own, and I have to do research, I have to read books and take in what it means and also challenge myself and my own ideas.
“If you feel like your outside doesn’t match your inside, it can be a real mind trip, for anyone.”