Rhianna Benson
Marlon Wayans has issued a vital message over the importance of protecting transgender citizens - starting with his own child.
The White Chicks actor, 53, appeared on the We In Miami podcast this week, where he was asked whether his priorities as a parent shifted when his 25-year-old son Kai came out as trans.
For those in need of a reminder, Wayans shares Kai with former partner, Angela Zackery, with whom he enjoyed a long-term relationship between 1992 and 2013. The former couple also share another son, Shawn, 23.
In November 2023, Wayans shared the news of Kai's transition, telling The Breakfast Club listeners: "My daughter Amai is now Kai, and so, I talk about the transition. Not her, his - their transition, but my transition as a parent, going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance."
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In the years since, Wayans has used both his influential platform as an actor and his instincts as a father as a means of sounding the alarm on the issues that transgender youngsters are facing today.
Such was also the case this week when, during a podcast appearance, he reflected on his own experience.
"People can judge and say what they want but at the end of the day that’s my child," the Scary Movie actor began. "And I’m gonna love my baby regardless of what anybody says and they should be allowed to have their anonymity and enjoy their life exactly the way they want to enjoy it."
After being asked if he sees himself as a representative figure for fathers of trans kids, Wayans rejected the notion that he had any formal role in Kai's courageous journey so far.
He added, however, that he'd always be willing to take a stand for his child, describing their love for one another as 'non-negotiable'.
When it came down to the core message he hopes to convey with his public conversations on LGBTQ+ issues, Wayans emphasised the importance of loving a child for who they are - not what a parent hoped or expected them to be.
The movie star continued: "You can’t hypnotise someone to not be transgender. You gotta accept and love them."
Wayans latest remarks have since seen the father-of-three - who also shares a daughter, Axl, two, with ex-girlfriend Brittany Moreland - heaped in praise by social media users, who commended his words.
"As it should be, its your child, love them the way they are, its okay, too many people too fragile to accept this fact which is unfortunate," one Instagram user wrote after Complex shared his latest words.
Another added: "Unconditional love from a father. The world needs more of that."
A third added: "Sucks that someone feels like they have to explain themselves."
A fourth went on: "He's completely right!"