Charlize Theron has urged people to use the correct pronouns for her transgender daughter during an interview with PrideSource. 

In April 2019, the Monster actress spoke to the Daily Mail following her eldest child coming out as transgender. Theron said,”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.”

Speaking to PrideSource, Theron clarified that she did not want to speak on her daughter’s experiences, however, she wanted to ensure people were respectful of her child’s correct pronouns. She said, “My daughter’s story is really her story, and one day, if she chooses, she’ll tell her story. I feel like as her mother, for me, it was important to let the world know that I would appreciate it if they would use the right pronouns for her.”

Theron further stated, “I think it became harder for us the older she got that people were still writing about her in the wrong pronouns, and also I was still talking about her in the press using the wrong pronoun. It really hurt her feelings. I don’t want to be that mom.”

When it comes to her family life, Theron loves to see that her children feel safe to explore all possibilities and feel encouraged to do so. She said, “One of my daughters (4 year-old August) is convinced that she’s gonna be married five times and it’s gonna be three boys and two girls, and I just love that she has the freedom to think that way.”

Pride has become an annual tradition for Theron’s family to show their support and love for the LGBT+ community. She expressed the importance of listening to others and speaking openly beyond “such a walled-off, labelled sense.”

Theron ended the PrideSource interview by commenting on the representation of queerness in cinema. Despite seeing amazing progress, she said, “I want more of it, and I think we’re always going to need more of it.”

In 2006, Charlize Theron won the GLAAD Vanguard Award for her dedicated work towards promoting the visibility of the LGBT+ community. In her acceptance speech, she said, “There’s one thing I’d like to [say to the] viewers out there: as mothers, fathers, teach your children to have tolerance and acceptance. At the end of the day, we’re all the same.”