Parents of Gender Nonconforming Kid Speak Out After Being Attacked by a P.O.S. ‘Celebrity’

Earlier this week, rotten excuse for a human James Woods made headlines for an incredibly vile tweet toward the family of a gender nonconforming child. The actor tweeted out a picture of the family with the caption, “This is sweet. Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you’ve done, and stuffs both of you dismembered into a freezer in the garage.” Just writing out that piece of shit’s caption makes me want to vomit. Now, the family Woods singled out is speaking about the shocking incident.

Matt and Lori Duron’s child, C.J., self-identified gender nonconforming at age five.

In a 2016 essay for HuffPost, Lori said that C.J. “says he’s a boy who only likes girl things and wants to be treated like a girl.” He uses male pronouns but recently told his parents that he doesn’t want them to correct people when they misgender him.

Lori, who is an accomplished author and vocal advocate for gender nonconforming children and families, initially wanted to “ignore the hate,” her family received online after Woods tweeted their photo. But as she told HuffPost,”I have a voice and I’m not just an advocate for my son, I’m an advocate for all the other children like him and their families. LGBTQ youth face this type of bullying every day without someone standing up for them. I couldn’t stay silent, I had to stand up.”

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Despite receiving hate mail ever since the family started their blog, Raising My Rainbow, Lori couldn’t believe it when she saw Woods’ tweet. “My brain couldn’t register that James Woods ”• a somewhat public figure ”• was saying that my sweet, happy, harmless 10-year-old son will eventually kill us, dismember us and stuff us in the freezer.” Matt, who doesn’t deal well with hate mail (Lori says she is “pretty much immune to it.”), said, “It’s hard being the bigger man when someone attacks your family and does it in the way Woods did it.”

The parents also found Woods’ claim that they “force” C.J. to be gender creative to be ridiculous.

“Anybody who has followed our journey knows that is not true. I’ve written about how much easier our lives would be if both of our boys were straight and cisgender. We had to evolve to the place where we are now, that’s what my writing is all about ”• to show our evolution as parents and people and hope that it inspires others.”

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The Durons credit their incredible support system for helping them through. “This incident has shown us that the village we are lucky enough to be a part of will assemble at a moment’s notice to support and protect us,” said Lori. Added Matt, “I expected my friends and family to be there for us, I wasn’t expecting the outpouring of encouragement and love from the public and celebrities.”

Lori was “speechless” when Neil Patrick Harris came to her family’s defense, and when other celebrities started to retweet him, “It felt like this big, powerful, loving, supportive army had assembled in front of us and we could take a moment to catch our breath.”

 

Luckily, C.J. doesn’t know what’s going on. “C.J. is far too busy with sewing, art and gymnastics to know or care who James Woods is,” Matt said. And the parents are more determined than ever to continue advocating for kids like C.J. “Woods’ tweet definitely highlights the fact that there is work left for me to do,” Lori said. There is still education that has to take place and empathy to inspire.” Matt was even more direct, “I’m a dedicated dad who isn’t afraid and will always speak up. James Woods isn’t going to change that or the way I father.”

Good. Fuck you, James Woods.

(Image: Instagram / @Raising My Rainbow)

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