Marlon Wayans has a child who’s trans.
The comedian shared the information on The Breakfast Club, revealing that his forthcoming stand-up special, named either Skittles or Rainbow Child, is about his reaction to his kid, Kai, coming out and transitioning.
“I have a daughter that transitioned into a son,” Wayans said around the 14-minute mark. “My daughter Amai is now Kai, and so, I talk about the transition. Not her, his… their transition, but my transition as a parent, going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance.”
Wayans confessed that the news was “painful” for him. It’s clear he’s still working some things out, as he sometimes uses the wrong pronouns for Kai. “They let me… they know. They know I love her and they see me trying and that I’m happy. It just fucks me up when I say ‘they,’ I’m like, there’s two of you? But I gotta respect their wishes.”
Wayans continued, “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. So, if they can’t get that in the household with their father and their mother, who the fuck do I send them out into the world with that kind of confidence? And I’m just so proud of them for being them. But that don’t mean that they ain’t got jokes!”
He shared that Kai knows about his new stand-up special, which he recently performed for some big names in entertainment, government, and even the military.
“It was that big of a crowd, and 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, whom I love. And what’s important? Is change. 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 that we’re dealing with, they’re different, and we can’t have our old ways and expect to do new things.”
