Celebrity Parents Proudly Supporting Their LGBTQ Kids

For actress Marcia Gay Harden, who stars in The Morning Show, having three queer children has motivated her to become a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ community. Most recently, she spoke out against the growing wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the US while appearing at the Drag Isn't Dangerous telethon in May 2023.

"This is so fear-based and it's spreading that kind of fear and hatred among other people. I believe this country will fight that," she said, explaining that her kids inspire her to use her voice for change. "What drives me is because it's right and what's happening right now is wrong. What drives me is my children are all queer. My eldest child is nonbinary. My son is gay. My youngest is fluid. And you know, they are my kids and they teach me every day."

In February 2020, NBA star Dwyane Wade announced that his child Zaya is transgender, and he and wife Gabrielle Union have been her biggest cheerleaders as she embraces her identity and embarks on a career in modeling. At the 2020 GLAAD Awards, Dwyane spoke about how Zaya is teaching their family so much about the LGBTQ community and how they can be allies for its causes.

"Our daughter Zaya is leading us in our journey, and we're doing all we can to give every one of our kids the ability to live their truth. I didn't always understand how to do that, but I thank Zaya for teaching me, and GLAAD for elevating the images and messages that accelerate acceptance in every family," he said.

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After Jamie Lee Curtis announced in 2021 that her daughter Ruby is transgender, the two opened up to People about how they've been navigating the journey together. Jamie said that for loved ones of an LBGTQ person, it's important to listen and learn. "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," she explained, adding that you need to give yourself grace as you adapt and evolve.

"You still mess up — I've messed up today twice. We're human. 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."

In March 2023, Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow shared with fans that her youngest child had come out as transgender. Along with words of love and support for Ace, she wrote on Instagram: "Our job as parents is to give our kids a safe and supportive environment so they can grow up as healthy, happy, confident, independent humans. Since Ace is a 12-year-old child, with a long life ahead of him, we will let him tell his own story someday if he chooses to do so."

Heather has been incredibly supportive of all of her kids as they've explored their gender and sexuality. Her daughter Max came out as bisexual in 2020, and her daughter Kate revealed she's a lesbian in 2022.

Ally Sheedy's son Beck, who is 29, came out as transgender in his teens. The Single Drunk Female star admitted to People in 2022 that as a mother, she sometimes worries about how the world will treat him. "I want him to be able to do what he wants to do with his life and have the freedom to make his own choices and surround himself with a loving, supportive community," she explained. "It's natural to have fears about your kids, no matter what. But in this case, Beck is in a really great place in his life. I give him the room to run, and I just really try to just watch."

Busy Philipps is a proud supporter of her 14-year-old daughter, Birdie, who came out as gay when she was 10. During a December 2020 episode of her podcast, Busy shared the news, noting that Birdie prefers they/them pronouns — something she admitted to not always getting right.

"I said, 'You know, Bird, I've been doing a bad job with the pronouns,'" she recalled telling her daughter (via People). "Because Birdie said that they would like their pronouns to be they/them, and I haven't been doing it, and I said because I have this public persona and I want Birdie to be in control of their own narrative and not have to answer to anybody outside of our friends and family if they don't want to."

After assuring listeners that Birdie gave her mom approval to talk about her journey, Busy added: "So Birdie, my out kid, prefers they/them. I f— up sometimes, but I'm trying my best at that, too."

And Just Like That star and LGBTQ activist Cynthia Nixon — whose son, Samuel, is transgender — shared some important advice for parents whose kids are struggling with their identity or sexuality. "Before I ever had an inkling my kid might be trans, I read a really extensive article [about] all of these parents of prepubescent kids who were really struggling with this. There was one dad who said, 'At a certain point, the decision seemed to me I could have a dead son or a live daughter,' and it's like, after you say that, what more is there to say?" she said while appearing on Alan Cumming and Chris Sweeney's Homo Sapiens podcast in 2018.

"You can make all the arguments that you want but the fact is, as a parent, as a human, you should listen to what people tell you about themselves. And if they want to make this really extreme change or move in that direction, people are not going to do this lightly."

Charlize Theron revealed in 2019 that her oldest child is transgender. At the time, she explained to The Daily Mail that Jackson, then 7, was assigned male at birth but told her four years prior that she's a girl. "I thought she was a boy, too. Until she looked at me at 3 years old and said, 'I am not a boy,'" said the Fast X star, who is also mom to daughter August.

"So there you go. 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."

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Cher has been a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, but in a 2020 interview with CNN, she admitted that her transgender son Chaz Bono's transition more than 10 years ago was difficult for her at first. "It wasn't easy. Like I remember calling, and the old message — the old Chaz message was on the phone — and that was very difficult. But then you have one child, but you don't really lose them — they just are in a different shape," she told interviewer Christiane Amanpour.

Now, the 77-year-old singer is at a point where she can use her personal experience to encourage others. "I talk to people on Twitter, or people come up to me, and I just say, 'You know, just relax, and you guys will get through it, you'll get through it together,'" she said.

When Jennifer Lopez and her daughter, Emme, took the stage to perform together at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala in June 2022, the Marry Me star introduced the then-14-year-old using gender-neutral pronouns. "The last time we performed together was in a big stadium like this and I ask them to sing with me all the time, and they won't. So this is a very special occasion," Jennifer said of Emme, who used a rainbow-colored microphone for their duet of Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years."

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During a June 2022 screening of his movie My Fake Boyfriend, father-of-five Dean McDermott gave a special shout-out to sons Jack and Liam, revealing publicly for the first time that Liam — who he shares with wife Tori Spelling — is transgender.

"The thing I love about this movie is I got to share it with my 15-year-old who identifies as trans and my gay son [Jack]," he told the audience. "I love that they get a safe space to come and watch this."

That same month, Dean took to Instagram to share photos of himself enjoying Pride Month celebrations with Jack and Liam which included a drag brunch and a hangout with Lisa Vanderpump. "WOW!!! What an amazing day celebrating @pride with my boys," he wrote.

When Magic Johnson learned that his son EJ is gay, he had a difficult time accepting it. "It was just a lot for him to swallow in that conversation. A lot of just going back and forth. And he just was rattling off about things that weren't particularly nice," EJ recalled to Variety of the moment he came out to his famous father in 2010, adding that Magic even created certain rules for how his son could dress (including forbidding him from bringing scarves into the house).

But it didn't take long for Magic to come around. When the two reunited three months after EJ went away for college, EJ knew his dad's attitude had changed. "He picked me up at my dorm, and I was like, 'Oh, whatever, hey.' And he hugged me so hard — he was, like, squeezing all the air out of me. That's when I knew, there's nothing but love here," he said, prompting Magic to gush: "He changed me. He was so proud. This dude here is just so proud of who he is."

In a 2019 interview, actress Annette Bening praised her transgender son, Stephen Ira, for how well he handled his transition at age 14. "He's managed something that's very challenging with great style and great intelligence," she told AARP magazine. "He's an articulate, thoughtful person, and I'm very, very proud of him."

Her husband, Warren Beatty, couldn't agree more. "He's a revolutionary, a genius, and my hero, as are all my children," he told Vanity Fair in 2016.

During a TikTok live broadcast in April 2023, two of Jon and Kate Gosselin's famous brood of eight kids revealed they are queer. Mady, 22, first shared that she identifies as queer. "I guess if someone forced me I could pick like a standard label. But to me, [queer] is a more comfortable word to use for myself," she told viewers.

Younger sister Alexis then shared that she identifies similarly to Mady. And though the 19-year-old sextuplet admitted she was scared to tell friends and family about her sexuality, everyone was super supportive — including mom Kate. "People keep asking if our mom supports our relationships. Obviously, yes," sister Hannah chimed in.

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At the urging of her son, former Real Housewives of Orange County star Alexis Bellino took to Instagram in October 2022 to announce that 15-year-old Miles is transgender. "Hey world, this is Miles. My transgender son," she wrote. "He's now ready to 'come out' and to use this platform to stop any hate or questions. I know Miles truly wants me to post this because he's tired of the misgendering and confusion people have."

Alexis went on to gush about how happy Miles is now that he's come out: "My son now smiles naturally for the first time in years! My son now loves the clothes he wears. My son can breathe knowing he can be his true self. My son lights up every single time a stranger calls him 'he.' My son runs with the boys. My son can actually FEEL. My son can live life now with his true self."