Heather Dubrow is shutting down criticism from fans after she opened up about her son Ace’s transition!
If you missed it, last week, the Real Housewives of Orange County star took to Instagram for International Son’s Day to show some love to her youngest child, who came out as transgender. She expressed at the time:
“It’s International sons day! We love you, our youngest son, Ace. Our job as parents is to give our kids a safe and supportive environment so they can grow up as healthy, happy, confident, independent humans.”
She did not get into further details, other than to reiterate how much her family loves Ace just as he is! Love it!! Unfortunately, the sweet post has been met with a ton of backlash from fans who think Heather was using the announcement as a way to gain more notoriety for herself.
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On Thursday’s episode of her Let’s Talk podcast, the reality star hit back at the chatter she’s seen online, arguing:
“I saw [people commenting that] talking about my son was [a way] to remain relevant or to create a storyline on a show. Neither of these things are true. They are the farthest thing from the truth.”
As for why she decided to open up about the personal matter, she explained:
“As a mom, you look at your kids, and all you want to do is protect them. That’s it. You just want to protect them. You want to put helmets on them. You want to wrap them in bubble wrap and just pray that nothing ever hurts them physically and emotionally, and of course, that’s what I want to do with my kids.”
She continued:
“But the truth of our lives is that we’ve been in the public eye for many years. My son has been in the public eye since he was 9 months old. As much as we want to protect him — and that is our number one priority and our number one goal — for a variety of reasons, it also, over the last few years and more recently the past few months, became apparent that we had to say something.”
The That’s Life alum also said the family’s “goal was to acknowledge who our incredible son is and show how much we love and support our child. We’re not hiding our son but trying to protect him from the world, as all parents want to do.” And it was especially important to have the announcement come on the family’s own terms:
“So even though I don’t want to tell my children’s stories for them — and I never have, nor will I ever — something had to be said by us before someone else made a statement. And that part I need to leave at that. But hopefully, that will add some clarity to it.”
Ugh. It sucks to hear that someone may have been trying to exploit the child’s transition for a headline. We’re glad the Dubrows were able to share Ace’s story before things got messier.
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This isn’t the momma bear’s first time navigating a coming-out announcement either. Two of her three other children with her husband Terry DuBrow have also come out as members of the LGBTQ+ community, too. The couple shares twins Nick and Max, 19, and Kat, 16. In June 2020, Max came out as bisexual and in February 2022, Kat revealed she identifies as lesbian. Heather’s been supportive of all her children’s journeys, writing on her IG last month:
“It’s really important that we provide an environment of unconditional love and acceptance for our children and let them know that humans come in all different colors, genders, sexualities. Once we start appreciating this and practicing inclusion, love and acceptance, the better off we will all be.”
Preach!
Also, LGBTQ+ rights are being attacked across the nation right now, with a major anti-trans movement gaining traction. This IS exactly the time to be outspoken in support of queer individuals, especially trans youth! Heather acknowledged this on the podcast, concluding:
“I didn’t know that when I was younger, but I will tell you, being a parent, as so many of you know, is the hardest job on the planet. But being a mother to me is my most important job ever. […] I take my kids and all of your kids to my heart always, every day, and I know I was given these four kids for a reason. And not only will I protect them and fight for their safety and their rights and their freedom, but I promise, I’m going to help you protect yours too.”
Incredible! It sounds like Heather did what was right for her family. Too bad fans couldn’t just approach the announcement with positivity! Reactions? Let us know (below)!
[Image via Watch What Happens Live/YouTube]