Why are Warren Beatty and his wife Annette Bening so upset that their 18-year-old daughter (for now), Kathlyn, is planning to get a sex change and officially change her credentials from female to male? I thought Hollywood celebrities, especially liberal ones like the Beatty-Benings, supported that kind of thing?
A little background: Kathlyn has been living as "Stephen Ira" and attending the private Buckley School in California dressed as a boy. Now that she's 18, she says she's taking matters into her own hands. The couple has reportedly pulled Kathlyn out of classes to avoid an invasion from the paparazzi, reports the Telegraph.
A recent picture of "Stephen" circulating shows her dressed in a suit with a short non-descript boy haircut. That hairstyle, along with no or minimal makeup and androgynous clothes, appears in photos going back numerous years as well.
According to the Enquirer, Beatty is "crushed" and "beside himself."
Bening also finds the situation "heartbreaking" but is trying to support her daughter as best she can.
This is not something I've really thought about in-depth in terms of my own kids before writing about it today, as I'm still immersed in the world of play dates and loose teeth. And I don't pretend to know the slightest thing about transgenderism, other than there's a big push to get the medical and psychiatric communities to stop labeling it and diagnosing it as a mental illness or condition.
I know I would react the same as Beatty and Bening. It's one thing for a child to announce they're gay. I admit I would struggle with that, but in the end I'd like to think I would accept my child's decision. Changing gender is different. A medical procedure to alter your physical makeup is major. Becoming an entirely different person is major. You can't simply change your mind years down the road and say you made a mistake -- or I guess you can, but then you'd have to undergo another surgery, and it can't be simple or without serious risk.
But liberals, like Beatty, the famous ladies man who's known for some pretty unorthodox life choices himself, are champions of gay and transgender rights causes. Why wouldn't he and his wife be thrilled that their daughter has finally come to terms with this difficult and confusing issue and is taking the next step to set it all right? Cher, another liberal, wasn't either initially, when daughter Chastity finally announced she was going under the knife to become Chaz.
Could it be that as much as we support or don't support a cause on the surface, when it comes to our own kids, all bets are off?
How would you react if your son or daughter announced plans to get a sex change?
Written by Cynthia Dermody for The Stir