Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Colin Mochrie has been openly and enthusiastically supportive of his transgender daughter Kinley since sharing the news of her transition in 2016. He regularly posts photos of them together and has never shied away from talking about her publicly. His outlook on the whole thing has been pretty simple and pretty moving – he told HuffPost Canada that Kinley is the same person he's always known, just with a new coat, and that all he's ever wanted for her is to be safe, happy, and better than him. | © 22 Minutes / YouTube
David Tennant and his wife Georgia are parents to five children, one of whom, Doris, identifies as nonbinary. Both have been vocal advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, and neither has been quiet when it comes to defending the trans community publicly. David showed up to a Good Omens press event wearing a shirt that read "Leave trans kids alone you absolute freaks," while Georgia responded to anti-trans comments from then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a direct message to the trans community: "I stand with you now and always". | © BBC
Busy Philipps went public about her child Birdie being gay and using they/them pronouns in December 2020, sharing the news with the same openness and warmth she brings to most things in her life. On her podcast, she recounted what she told Birdie about their future, that they get to build their life however they want, without it needing to look like anything that's ever existed before. It was the kind of parenting moment that resonated with a lot of people far beyond just the celebrity news cycle. | © Paramount Pictures
Sigourney Weaver casually and warmly revealed that her child Char, whom she shares with husband Jim Simpson, identifies as nonbinary while appearing on the SmartLess podcast. She described Char as a teacher and couldn't help adding that they somehow still look 12 at 32. It was the kind of offhand, loving mention that said everything about how natural and unremarkable the whole thing is within their family. | © 20th Century Studios
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening's eldest child, Stephen Ira Beatty, came out as transgender in 2012, and both parents have been publicly supportive ever since. Beatty called his son a revolutionary, a genius, and his hero in a Vanity Fair interview in 2016. Bening was equally warm in her own words, telling AARP that Stephen handled a very challenging journey with style and intelligence, and that she couldn't be more proud of him. | © The Graham Norton Show / YouTube
Cynthia Nixon shared that her son, Samuel, who goes by Seph, is transgender in a 2018 Instagram post celebrating his graduation from the University of Chicago. The announcement was as straightforward and joyful as it gets, a proud mom marking her kid's graduation and Trans Day of Action in the same breath. Nixon has long been a vocal LGBTQ+ advocate, and the post felt entirely consistent with who she's always been. | © 20th Century Studios
Jamie Lee Curtis revealed in a 2021 AARP Magazine interview that her daughter Ruby, whom she shares with director Christopher Guest, is transgender, describing watching their son become their daughter as something they observed with wonder and pride. Curtis has since used Ruby's birthday as an occasion to speak publicly in support of the broader trans community. In one Instagram post, she was direct about the political moment, expressing solidarity with trans families being targeted by conservative legislation across the country. | © Sony Pictures Entertainment
Charlize Theron shared in a 2019 Daily Mail interview that her eldest daughter Jackson, whom she adopted as a boy, identified as a girl from a young age. Theron's response to the whole thing has been characteristically direct – her kids were born who they are, and it's not her place to decide who they become. Her job, as she sees it, is to celebrate them, love them, and make sure they have everything they need to be exactly who they want to be. | © Call Her Daddy / YouTube
Dean McDermott publicly acknowledged both of his queer children (a transgender 15-year-old and a gay son) during a speech at a film screening in San Francisco. He spoke about bringing them to see My Fake Boyfriend at The Castro Theatre and how much it meant to him that they had a safe space to enjoy it. He closed by addressing his kids directly from the stage, telling Jack and Liam he loved them, which is about as straightforward and public a show of support as a parent can give. | © CBS
In Living Color star Tommy Davidson has spoken openly about his trans son Jerzey Saint Wilson, who came out as attracted to girls as a teenager before embracing his trans identity. Davidson said he was immediately accepting, tracing his attitude back to a childhood moment in New York when his mother explained a gender-nonconforming person to him in the simplest possible terms – essentially that some people are a bit of both. He credits that early conversation with conditioning him to never reject what was different from him, which turned out to be exactly the right foundation for the parent he'd eventually need to be. | © Chocolate Sundaes Comedy Show
Jennifer Lopez introduced her child Emme using they/them pronouns at the LA Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala, making the affirmation feel completely natural in the middle of a performance introduction. She joked that Emme is very busy, booked, and expensive to get on stage, and that performing with them costs her every time. The lighthearted moment said everything – Lopez made it warm, funny, and completely matter-of-fact, which is probably exactly how Emme would have wanted it. | © Netflix
Actress Saffron Burrows opened up about parenting her nonbinary child – who was just 12 at the time – during an appearance on the Circle This podcast, describing herself as constantly learning about how they want to be addressed and how they see the world. She credits her own upbringing with an equal rights activist mother for giving her the openness she tries to pass on to her kids. For Burrows, the whole thing comes back to a simple belief her mother gave her – that she had the right to love who she wanted to love, and she wants her children to feel the same way. | © Amazon MGM Studios
Cher's son Chaz Bono has become one of the most prominent voices in transgender advocacy, and Cher has been in his corner throughout. She has been honest about the fact that the transition was difficult for her to process at first, which makes her eventual arrival at full support feel more genuine than a polished celebrity statement. She told the Today show that Chaz is so unbelievably happy that she can't understand why anyone else would have a problem with it, which is about as straightforward a conclusion as a parent can reach. | © Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube
Robert De Niro released a statement to Variety expressing his full support for his transgender daughter, Airyn, after she was outed by tabloids before coming out on her own terms. His words were classic De Niro – short, direct, and completely unambiguous. "I loved and supported Aaron as my son, and now I love and support Airyn as my daughter," he said. "I don't know what the big deal is." | © Netflix
Elon Musk's daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson came out as transgender in 2020 and changed her last name two years later, specifically to remove any connection to her father. Musk has publicly referred to her using her deadname, said he "lost his son" to the "woke mind virus," and claimed he was tricked into consenting to her medical treatment, all of which Vivian has flatly denied. She has been financially independent from him since she came out, and the two are entirely estranged. | © PowerfulJRE / YouTube
Having a trans or nonbinary child puts every parent to the test, and the celebrities on this list have responded in ways that range from deeply moving to deeply disappointing. These are the famous parents whose kids came out, and the very different ways their families handled it.
