Marlon Wayans Supports His Trans Child With 'Unconditional Love & Acceptance'

Comedian and actor Marlon Wayans knows what it takes to be a good father.

The actor who has starred in projects ranging from White Chicks to Requiem for a Dream, went on The Breakfast Club podcast this week where he opened up about his trangender child and his acceptance and “complete unconditional love” for them.

Wayans was talking about his current comedy special Good Grief, when he explained that after this tour, he will work on a new special tentatively called either Skittles or Rainbow Child.

“Skittles, or Rainbow Child, is about my daughter – I have a daughter that transitioned into a son,” Wayans revealed. “My daughter Amai is now Kai. And so I talk about the transition. Not their transition, but my transition as a parent going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance.”

“I think there’s a lot of parents out there that need to have that message, and I know,” he continued. “I’m dealing with it. It was a very painful situation for me. But, man, it’s one of the best, funniest hours I could possibly imagine.”

Wayans also said that he’s not afraid to joke around with his child, telling them, “You’re transitioning into your brother, you look just like him. I can’t tell the difference between her and Shawn, I swear to god.”

Wayons admitted that he still struggles to always use “they/them” pronouns, but is always working on doing better.

“They know I love them. They see I’m trying…” he said, admitting he was confused about gender-neutral pronouns at first. “But I gotta respect their wishes, right?” he said. “And as a parent, I just want my kids to be free. I want them to be free in spirit, free in thought. Free to be themselves.”

“The more you know yourself, the more you can govern yourself, the more you live your truth, the happier your existence,” he continued. “So if they can’t get that in the household, with their father and their mother, how the fuck do I send them out into the world with that kind of confidence?”

“I’m just so proud of them for being them, but that don’t mean I don’t got jokes,” he laughed.

Wayans also said he recently did a set in front of world leaders, politicians, and military leaders, and he took the opportunity to try out the set about being the parent of a trans child.

“I felt like I want to do this set right here because it’s important to me. What’s important to me? Comedy. What’s important to me? My children who I love. And what’s important? Change,” he noted. “And so all you world leaders that’s having this summit, I want you to think about these people, and this synapse, and how to be inclusive of this next generation. Because I see a lot of gray hair here, but these kids we’re dealing with here, they’re different. And we can’t have our old ways and expect to do new things. So please embrace the new.”