In Living Color star Tommy Davidson admits hes had to adjust while supporting his trans son
Comedian Tommy Davidson says it took him no time to accept his transgender son.At the same time, as he recently explained in a candid interview with journalist and critic Tour on his podcast the Tour Show, hes still adjusting to his sons new name and pronouns. Related Marlon Wayans slams Elon Musks transphobia against his own daughter Wayans has been a vocal advocate for trans youth after his own son came out as trans. Davidson explained that he had no trouble immediately accepting his son Jersey when he came out as trans at age 15 because hed been exposed to the LGBTQ+ community from a young age. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I knew trans people growing up, Davidson said. And my brother was gay. You know, so I was exposed to that whole community.Davidson said he first saw an androgynous person as a child working with his mother at the Workers World Party in New York. I saw a man that acted like a woman and kinda looked like a woman but kinda was a man, he recalled. I asked my mother and she gave me the perfect answer. I asked, What is he? Is he a man or a woman? She said, You know what, honey, hes kinda both.What she did was condition me to not reject others, to not reject someone that was not like me, he added.Tour suggested that while many parents of their generation had grown up accepting and embracing gay and lesbian people, the trans thing felt different, because it seems, outwardly, like a change. Trans people are aligning with who they really are, he said. They are not changing, but outwardly it looks like they are changing.It took me a while to wrap my mind around that, Davidson admitted. Me and my wife, we had a child. We found out that child was a girl, so we prepared for what a girl is to us.At the same time, Davidson, who seemed to struggle with pronouns throughout the interview, asked for what Tour described as grace if he unintentionally misgendered or deadnamed his son out of habit. It doesnt make me a bad guy, Davidson insisted. Im still adjusting. Tour also asked Davidson for his perspective on fellow comedian Dave Chappelles anti-trans jokes in recent stand-up specials.Nothing bothers me enough to hate someone, Davidson said.Tour pushed back, asking whether Davidson thought Chappelles comedy conveys to his audience that its ok to ridicule trans people.Youd have to ask him, Davidson said. My comedy is just about making people laugh about their similarities, not their differences.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.