Busy Philipps has received messages of thanks from other mothers after revealing her child is non-binary.
The ‘Busy Tonight’ host announced her 13-year-old child Birdie had come out as non-binary last year, and has said that since sharing the news with the world, she has received “so many” messages from other parents who thanked her for talking openly about her child’s gender.
She said: “I have gotten so many messages and letters in the last year of ... moms just thanking me for talking about it, talking about my child's queerness and their choice of pronouns because they're also having the same thing, but they live in a small town in the middle of the country, and this helps them be able to have the conversation easier."
Busy – who has Birdie, as well as eight-year-old Cricket, with her husband Marc Silverstein – also said that while some people responded negatively to Birdie’s decision to use they/them pronouns, most people were understanding.
She added: "I think it's a part of our culture, sharing things on social media. You cannot ever predict how they're going to be received, but you just have to know that when you're moving through the world in a truthful way, [some] people will respond to it in a positive way, and some people won't, but that's their issue to work out."
The 42-year-old actress also spoke about Birdie’s decision to let their mother go public with their pronoun change.
She told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "Birdie had discussed it with me. They had come to me and were like, 'You can talk about me, my queerness, and my pronouns on your podcast. I was like, 'Well, are you sure? Let's discuss it.'
“They're kind of always unfazed by everything, in terms of how people have responded. It was hard for me in terms of knowing that there would be people that would be unkind to my child. I felt like I was putting my kid out there, and putting them at risk of getting some of that negativity toward who they are as a person.”