In a recent interview on The Breakfast Club radio show, Scary Movie actor and producer Marlon Wayans opened up about being a parent to a trans child, sharing his love and admiration for his son, 23-year-old Kai.
During the show, Marlon Wayans described his personal journey of parenting a trans child as “going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance”. He went on to say that there are a lot of parents of LGBTQ+ children who need to hear that message.
Wayans praised his son Kai and their resilience, describing them as “brilliant” and “the most well-read, the smartest Wayans.”
While Marlon made the mistake of misgendering and deadnaming his son at the beginning of the interview when describing their transition, Marlon emphasised how he loves his son unconditionally. Marlon admitted that he isn’t always a perfect parent, however, he is doing the work to be the kind of parent all trans folks deserve.
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When talking about Kai, Wayans said, “They know I love them,” and “I’m just so proud of them being them.”
As a parent, Wayans said he wants his sons to be “free in spirit, free in thought, free to be themselves.” He added, “The more you know yourself, the more you can govern yourself; the more you live your truth, the happier your existence.”
Prior to his son’s gender transition, Marion supported Kai when they came out as queer, despite the criticism he received from fans on social media. While his audience has not always been supportive of queer identities, Marlon repeatedly stood up for Kai and reminded parents to love their kids for who they are, not who they want them to be.
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Marlon Wayans plans to talk more about supporting his son’s transition in an upcoming comedy special in honour of Kai. He hasn’t settled on a title for the special, but he’s considering calling it Rainbow Child or Skittles.
When his co-stars suggested it may be an unusual topic for a comedy special, Wayans responded by saying, “What’s important to me? Comedy. What’s important to me? My children who I love, and what’s important is change.”
Dear Marlon Wayans (@MarlonWayans),
I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the love and acceptance you have shown towards your son, Kai. In a world filled with prejudice and misunderstanding, your unconditional acceptance and love for your son is not only commendable… pic.twitter.com/PwfIe3VT3g
— William (@nhatruc44001192) November 14, 2023
He went on to talk about how laughter opens up important conversations and said he already performed a portion of the comedy set to a group of government leaders and asked them to think about how to be inclusive of queer identities.
He said, “I see a lot of grey hair here, but these kids that we’re dealing with, they’re different, right? And we can’t have our old ways and expect to do new things. So please embrace the new.”
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