Back in November 2023, Marlon Wayans sparked online debate when he first shared that his child, Kai, is trans and uses they/them pronouns in an episode of The Breakfast Club.
In the episode, Marlon first opened up about his relationship with Kai, saying their transition “helped his transition as a parent, going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance.”
Marlon continued to ruffle some bigoted feathers when he did a colorful Pride Month photo shoot in 2024, with a tribute to Kai in a now-deleted Instagram post, despite mixed reactions from his fans.
On Jan. 2, Marlon doubled down on his unconditional love for his transgender child, giving props to other celebrity parents of transgender children.
On a recent episode of the We In Miami podcast, Marlon was asked if he thought he would become an advocate for parents of trans children, to which Marlon said it’s his “natural instinct as a father to protect [his] child.”
“People could judge and say what they want, but at the end of the day that’s my child 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,” he said.
The HIM actor added, “You can’t beat gay out of someone. You can’t hypnotize someone to not be transgender. You just gotta accept and love them.”
When the host asked Marlon what he thought about Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union, who are the parents of Zaya Wade, he gave the couple praise, denoting that they are “evolved” as parents. “I think when you’ve gone through the process…everybody can try to judge, but until you’re a parent of a trans child…take a seat. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t understand what we struggle with. It’s not instant acceptance, but I call [Dwyane and Gabrielle] evolved, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“You’re supposed to align yourself with your children because you want your children ultimately to be happy,” he said. “And you try to make them happy and comfortable in their skin because you want them to live a nice, happy life. I’m proud that they’re showing up for their child, but more so I’m proud that they’re showing up as an example for Black people.”
“Because in culture we look for reasons to separate us. Black family is important, and whatever you have to do to keep your beautiful Black odd family together, that’s what you do,” Marlon finished. “We need more heroes like that, more examples like that.”
