Busy Philipps revealed her oldest child, 12-year-old Birdie, is gay and uses they/them pronouns.
Philipps discussed the topic on her podcast Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best, where she explained that Birdie first spoke about their sexuality when they were 10 years old.
“For those of you who are my friends listening at home, this is the first you’re hearing that Birdie is gay and out,” the 41-year-old said during Thursday’s episode. “Birdie told us at 10 years old and we immediately … I mean obviously, I knew that Birdie knew.”
During the podcast, the actress also discussed Birdie’s choice to use they/them pronouns, explaining to co-hosts Shantira Jackson and Caissie St Onge that she had previously avoided publicly discussing the topic to protect Birdie’s privacy.
However, according to the White Chicks star, Birdie recently gave their mother permission to speak openly about their identity –busy philips after Philipps apologised for “doing a bad job with the pronouns”.
“I said: ‘You know, Bird, I’ve been doing a bad job with the pronouns,’” Philipps recalled. “Because Birdie said that they would like their pronouns to be they/them, and I haven’t been doing it, and I said because I have this public persona and I want Birdie to be in control of their own narrative and not have to answer to anybody outside of our friends and family if they don’t want to.
“Bird was like: ‘I don’t give a f***. You can talk about how I’m gay and out, you can talk about my pronouns. That would be cool with me.'”
According to Philipps, she then suggested talking about Birdie’s pronouns on the podcast, with the 12-year-old encouraging their mother to go ahead.
“Birdie was like: ‘Yeah, talk about it on the podcast, Mom,’” Philipps recalled.
The 41-year-old concluded the conversation reiterating: “So Birdie, my out kid, prefers they/them,” adding: “I f*** up sometimes, but I’m trying my best at that, too.”
Following the podcast episode, listeners shared their support for Birdie on social media, with one person tweeting: “Nothing but love for Birdie.”
