Charlize Theron is being praised on Twitter for her eminently sensible and sensitive approach towards her daughter's gender identity.
The Oscar-winning actress has two daughters, seven-year-old Jackson and three-year-old August, both of whom she adopted.
In a new interview, Theron recalled that older daughter Jackson confirmed her gender identity at the age of three.
"Yes, I thought she was a boy, too," Theron told the Daily Mail. "Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: 'I am not a boy!'
"So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive. They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide."
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The actress added: "My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be. And I will do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that."
Theron's comments are prompting plenty of discussion – and plenty of praise - on Twitter today. Author Juno Dawson, a role model for LGBT charity Stonewall, who is trans, tweeted: "This made me tear up. My life would have been so different if my parents had just let me be me as a kid. Adopt me, Charlize."
This made me tear up. My life would have been so different if my parents had just let me be me as a kid. Adopt me, Charlize. https://t.co/UnT9EjMiSg
— Juno Dawson (@junodawson) April 19, 2019
Check out a selection of other tweets praising Theron's approach below.
Thank you @CharlizeAfrica for being the type of parent all kids deserve. #TransIsBeautiful ❤️?❤️
— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) April 19, 2019
@CharlizeAfrica Thank you !!! This world needs moms like that! examples so! you are beautiful I have smart! I love you!!! God bless you !! ?❤?
— Juan Tijoux (@JuanVar39710888) April 20, 2019
"Yes, I thought she was a boy, too. Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said, ‘I am not a boy! So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive." <3https://t.co/KmCjM081GF
— shon faye. (@shonfaye) April 19, 2019
In an interview last year, Theron spoke candidly about her decision to adopt her daughters.
"Adoption is a very personal thing—I know people whom I love dearly who don’t feel that they could raise another child as their own. I respect that," she told Elle.
"But for me—and I can’t be the only person out there—I never saw a difference in raising an adopted child versus my own biological child. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something. This was always my first choice, even when I was in a relationship."
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