Arts & Entertainment
Annette Bening says she is ‘proud’ of her transgender son
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Hollywood icon Annette Bening has spoken up about her feelings toward her transgender son.
Bening, who is known for keeping quiet about her personal life, opened up in an interview for AARP, when she brought up a book recently given to her by her son, Stephen Ira. In the novel, “Little Fish” by Casey Plett, a young transgender woman finds out, to her surprise, that her Mennonite grandfather might also have been trans.
The four-time Academy Award nominee then went on to add:
āHe’s managed something that’s very challenging with great style and great intelligence. He’s an articulate, thoughtful person, and I’m very, very proud of him.”
Ira, 27, is the firstborn child of Bening, who can currently be seen starring as Senator Dianne Feinstein in “The Report,” and fellow A-lister husband Warren Beatty. Assigned female at birth and given the name Kathlyn Elizabeth, he came out as trans and began transitioning at 14.
Beatty has previously expressed his own support for his son, telling Vanity Fair in 2016, āHeās a revolutionary, a genius, and my hero, as are all my children.ā
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Ira, a poet and writer, first spoke out publicly about his transition in a 2012 video on the WeHappyTrans website. He made news after the 2014 suicide of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn, when he published a series of tweets in response to the revelation she had been taken to Christian therapists who tried to persuade her being trans was wrong.
āGive this young woman the peace in death that she deserves and work for what she wanted, work for the things she needed while she lived,ā he began. āIF YOU CANāT HANDLE HAVING A TRANS KID, DONāT HAVE KIDS.ā
He went on to add, āif your therapist tries hard to convince you not to transition, thatās conversion therapy!,ā before revealing, āI survived conversion therapy and transphobic abuse.ā
He concluded his series of Tweets by offering encouragement and support for others in the trans community, saying, āI am attractive to people who are not trans,ā and that he has āa beautiful boyfriend.ā
āYou will and can be loved and adored,ā he concluded.
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The 2024 New York City Pride Parade wound through the streets of Manhattan and past the historic Stonewall Inn on Sunday, June 30.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
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The fourth annual Fredericksburg Pride march and festival was held at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 29. The event began with a march around downtown Fredericksburg beginning and ending in the park.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Covering Fredericksburg Pride for @WashBlade . City Council member @WillMackintosh speaking: pic.twitter.com/tDdVD2IVsM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) June 29, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Goodwin Living Pride
Senior living and healthcare organization holds fourth annual march at Falls Church campus
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The senior living and healthcare organization Goodwin Living held its fourth annual community Pride march around its Bailey’s Crossroads campus in Falls Church, Va. with residents, friends and supporters on Tuesday, June 25. Following the march, a drag brunch was held with performances by drag artists of SADBrunch: Crimsyn, Sapphire Dupree and Evon Dior Michelle.
(Photos courtesy of Goodwin Living)
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