The Bizarre Phenomenon of Celebrity Transgender Children Confronts Changing Attitudes » The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

For a several-year span, when a celebrity announced that her child had transitioned to the opposite sex, she was showered with praise and attention. In fact, nothing compared to a transgender child in demonstrating how progressive, open-minded, and compassionate an actress was. She was oh-so-supportive and affirming when her son, at three, announced that he was really a girl. Divorce or a rotating cast of long-term “partners” would be old news in Hollywood. But a transgender child, now that was interesting. A transgender child was the hottest accessory one could have.

In 2012, the actress Charlize Theron was at the peak of her fame. She starred in the film Prometheus, the fifth film in the Alien series, played Snow White’s evil stepmother in Snow White and the Huntsman, and was filming the apocalyptic action film Mad Max: Fury Road. That year, she also adopted a little boy. She was not in a relationship with anyone at the time. Theron later recounted that when this boy, Jackson, was three years old, he expressed a sudden desire to be a girl: “She looked at me when she was three years old and said: ‘I am not a boy! So there you go!’” This supposed revelation came the same year that TLC debuted the show I Am Jazz, which documented the life of Jazz Jennings and recounted how he had embraced a transgender identity at the age of 4.

A parade of other celebrity children soon followed the transgenderism trend.

In 2017, actress Naomi Watts’s 8-year-old son, who goes by Kai, began publicly dressing as a girl. In 2018, the daughter of actress Cynthia Nixon, of Sex and the City fame, came out as a boy. In 2019, Dwyane Wade’s 12-year-old son took on a transgender identity and changed his name to Zaya.

Many more followed. In 2022, Jennifer Lopez said her daughter now went by “they.” In 2023, actor David Tennant announced his child was “nonbinary.” In 2023, actress Marcia Gay Harden announced that all three of her children were “queer” and that one was “nonbinary.” Actress Busy Philips also announced in 2023 that her daughter went by “they/them” pronouns before saying the following year that her daughter was back to being a girl. In 2024, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s daughter came out as “nonbinary” at her grandpa’s funeral.

All of these celebrities are now faced with a new consensus regarding children and transgender identities. In 2023, a Washington Post poll found that 68 percent of Americans do not support allowing children to access puberty-blocking drugs. As of 2024, 26 states have passed laws outlawing children from receiving medical treatments that attempt to transition them to the opposite sex. And public opinion has turned decidedly against parents who lead their children into transgender identities. Many Americans believe such parents to be abusing their children.

So, what happens when these celebrity parents who used their “transgender” children as bright and shiny objects to draw attention to themselves enter a world that increasingly recognizes the truth of biological reality and the harms of transgenderism? They double down.

For this Mother’s Day, Gabrielle Union, the stepmother of Zaya Wade, decided to be featured on the cover of Marie Claire’s “Motherhood Issue.” The magazine claimed Union is “setting the example for how to create a blended family.” (The year before Zaya announced he was a girl, Union and Wade welcomed a child who was born via a “surrogate.”) Union claimed in her interview that her parenting is not “revolutionary,” as it has been portrayed, but that is rather based on “compassion.” She also spoke directly to those who have criticized her parenting choices, saying, “If I can be your punching bag, swing away.” In a separate interview, she called out those who disagree with her affirmation of her stepson’s transgender identity, and said: “It’s our job to be loving, compassionate, protective guides for our children, but their lives are their lives and we have to respect that…. We do not believe in any kind of shaming for existing. That is bizarre, cruel, and harmful.”

On Thursday, Naomi Watts and her 16-year-old son, who has since become a successful model, hosted the Trans Justice Funding Project in New York. The organizers posted a photo of the pair at the event on social media, writing: “A parent’s love is important to every human on earth. For trans people, the love and support of a parent can be absolutely crucial. Pictured, is @naomiwatts with her daughter @kaischreiberrr in @balenciaga…owning MOTHER DAUGHTER.” Evidently, Naomi Watts’s response to the backlash has been to take on a role as an activist for the transgender cause, alongside her minor son.

Supporting transgender identities for children has increasingly become a celebrity-wide movement. Earlier this month, the London Times reported that transgender activism is becoming a major trend among celebrities, calling it “a Black Lives Matter for trans rights.” The Times’ report, which was headlined “Is this Hollywood’s MeToo moment — for trans rights?”, gushed about Robert De Niro’s recent vocal support for his son, who identifies as transgender. “I don’t know what the big deal is … I love all my children,” De Niro told TMZ.

The Times noted a letter signed by a number of U.K. celebrities to protest the U.K. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that rights reserved for women belong only to biological women. The letter says: “We must now urgently work to ensure that our trans, non-binary and intersex colleagues, collaborators and audiences are protected from discrimination and harassment in all areas of the industry.” Another indicator the Times pointed to that transgenderism is becoming celebrities’ celebrated cause is the newfound trend of a T-shirt that reads “Protect the Dolls” — a term for biological men who identify as women. Last month, the Guardian reported that actor Pedro Pascal and singer Troye Sivan had been spotted wearing the T-shirt.

Perhaps one reason for hope is the fact that celebrity children are now more likely to come out as nonbinary than as the opposite sex. This could represent a stage in moving away from insanity.

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