“At 3 years old, she looked at me and said: ‘I’m not a boy!’”. For Charlize Theron, that moment changed the way she needed to support her daughter.
The actress publicly shared that during Jackson’s first years of life, she assumed she was raising a boy. However, when she was just 3 years old, her daughter began expressing to her that she did not identify that way.
Charlize explained that she chose to listen to and support her rather than try to decide for her who she should be. That is why, years later, when she spoke openly about Jackson being trans, she was very clear about the role she believes belongs to her as a mother.
“I have two beautiful daughters whom, like any parent, I want to protect and see thrive”, she said. For her, her daughters were born who they are, and it is not her place to determine who they should become.
She summed up her position in a phrase: “My job as a mother is to honor them, love them, and make sure they have everything they need to be whoever they want to be”.