They Came Out and They Were Accepted, Mj Rodriguez | MAKERS Moment

They Came Out and They Were Accepted, Mj Rodriguez | MAKERS Moment

Video Transcript

MJ RODRIGUEZ: I can tell a small, quick story about this young, young individual who is gender nonconforming, but identifies as a trans individual. They came to see a show that I did recently in LA. It was "Little Shops of Horror," and they had seen me on "Pose" before. They had even seen "Little Shops of Horror." That was one of the reasons why they came, and they loved the show as well.

And I remember seeing them crying, and I was like, "Baby, why are you crying?" And they looked to their mom, and they said, "Mom, do you remember when I told you about that day, Coming Out Day. It was official Coming Out Day, and they brought a trans flag out of their book bag. And I think they came out to their mom.

And at that moment I was like-- I didn't know what to do. I was so happy and joyous and also a little scared, because I'm like, "Oh crap, what mama gonna to do to me? Oh crap, I didn't do nothing. I didn't mean to do nothing, mama. I just-- this is beautiful. You got to accept it."

And my over thinking was wrong. Mama embraced her kid with open arms and loving and caring, welcoming arms. And the main thing I did was just hug with them and cry too. Because you don't expect that.

And me being somebody growing up in a generation where my mother never did that to me, but I had it from people on the street, I'd expected that to happen through the trauma. That was my life. But when I saw that it had changed, that was the change. I knew everything was going to be all right.

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