Theron says her elder-child, a trans, being raised as girl
Hollywood actor Charlize Theron, known for movies like Monster, The Devil's Advocate, Prometheus, and North Country, among others, recently revealed that her elder child, Jackson, is a transgender, and is being raised as a girl. This ends years of speculation that has been going around since Theron used to dress the child in girl's dresses, even after declaring publicly that Jackson was a boy.
Theron adopted Jackson in 2012, was marked a boy then
Jackson, 7, was adopted by Theron in March 2012, and the actress confirms that she "thought she was a boy, too." But one day, Jackson, an African-American, told her mother that she was not a boy. "She looked at me when she was three years old and said: 'I am not a boy!' So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters," Theron said.
'My job as a parent is to celebrate them'
The 43-year-old South African-born actress emphasized that like every parent, she wants to protect her two daughters. "My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be," she said. Notably, her second daughter, August, is Jackson's sister, who she adopted in 2015.
Theron's mom, who killed her father, is her inspiration
"And I'll do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that," said Theron, who takes inspiration from her mother, Gerda. Notably, Theron did not have a mainstream, glittery childhood. Her mother killed her abusive father in self-defense, when he had returned home, drunk and flinging a gun, threatening to kill Theron and Gerda.
The actress lost her father when she was just 15
And Theron was all of 15. Having grown up on a remote farm outside Johannesburg, South Africa, with her father, who owned a construction business, viciously beating up her mother regularly, brought Theron close to Gerda, which "is a real blessing".
Many lauded Theron on social media for her heartening move
"I think that having a very close relationship to at least one parent is a real blessing. Growing up as a young girl, I had this great representation in front of me of what you could be as a woman," Theron said, adding that her mother also inspired her to accept Jackson's choice of sexuality. Meanwhile, many lauded Theron for this heartening move.
'Is Charlize Theron doing the right thing? Absolutely!'
Is Charlize Theron doing the right thing? Absolutely! Brilliant parenting. Listen to your kids. Don’t force them to be someone they are not. She’s probably going to get stick, but in my book this sets a WONDERFUL example #CharlizeTheron https://t.co/BO1uDzkaCd
— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) April 19, 2019
'Sense8' actor Jamie Clayton, a transgender, expresses gratitude to Theron
.@CharlizeAfrica Sending you so much ✨💓✨ Thank you beyond. ⚡️
— Jamie Clayton (@MsJamieClayton) April 19, 2019
She didn't want to get married till gays, lesbians could
Theron is also known to stand for same-sex marriage, vowing not to wed her then-boyfriend Stuart Townsend till gay and lesbian couples can do the same. "I don't want to get married because I feel that right now the institution of marriage feels very one-sided, and I want to live in a country where we all have equal rights," Theron had said in 2009.
Isn't represented enough in cinema, Theron on bisexuality
Even recently when Theron was speaking about playing a bisexual spy in Atomic Blonde, she said, "It's just so strange when we talk so much about it. It should be normalized by now." "It's something I feel isn't represented enough in cinema. When you make movies, if you're going to hold that mirror up and reflect society, then you should reflect society," she noted.
