Annette Bening in New York City on Jan. 11, 2024.Photo:Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
Annette Beningis continuing to speak out in support oftransgenderpeople.
“At the beginning, I felt very protective of his privacy, because he’s the son of these two famous people,” Bening, 65, said of her sonStephen, 32, who is transgender and the oldest of the actress’s four children whom she shares with her husband of over 30 years,Warren Beatty.
“SoI felt very protective, and I felt it was his right to say what he wanted to say publicly, or not. And now, as time has gone on — especially now with what’s happening, unfortunately, in the political process, [with how] trans people are being used — fear and ignorance isbeing stoked against trans peoplein the most frightening way. It’s so unfair,” Bening continued.
“And I feel very, very strongly about it,” she added. “I am a Democrat. We need a strong Republican party. We need a strong opposition. But we don’t need people to stoke up fear.”
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TheAmerican Beautyactress went on to tell the panelists that she has a friend who moved her “entire family” to Los Angeles from Texas because “she was very worried about what was going to happen” to her trans daughter had they stayed in Texas.
“As you know,some of the laws in Texashave gotten very Draconian, and they’re able to actually go and intervene at the school without the parent present and talk to the child. So my friend was terribly frightened,” Bening said.
The two-timeGolden Globewinner said she “would hope that people would find someone in their lives who’s a trans person … who is just like they are, [but] they happen to be trans.”
“And if you’re even luckier, you have someone in your family, because then you really do understand that we don’t have to judge —we have to love and understand,” Bening said, adding later, “We need the Republicans to stand up and say that this is wrong. And that this is heartbreaking.”
Annette Bening; son Stephen Beatty.Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Instagram/Stephen Beatty
Bening has discussed her pride for her son in the past, tellingAARPfor an interview published in November 2019, “He’s managed something that’s very challenging with great style and great intelligence.”
“He’s an articulate, thoughtful person, and I’mvery, very proud of him,” she said.
And Bening’s sentiment about Stephen is one that Beatty, 86, shares. “He’s a revolutionary, a genius,and my hero, as are all my children,” theBonnie and Clydeactor toldVanity Fairback in 2016.
Bening and Beattyare also parents toson Benjamin, 29, plus daughters Isabel, 27, and Ella, 23.
source: people.com
