Mario Lopez has enticed debate about the parenting of transgender children but as quick as the backlash started, the Extra host has been met with support from fans and conservative figures.
Lopez’s conversation with Candace Owens happened in June but recently resurfaced this week. The two talked about his devotion to family and hints towards his conversation identity. During their chat, Owens and Lopez talked about a purposed trend of celeb parents who allow children to “pick their gender.”
“They say, ‘Oh, I looked at my child and my child was swimming in a bathtub and looked up and said, ‘Mommy, I’m a boy,” and that’s weird,” Owens said during the interview, in reference to Charlize Theron’s seven-year-old Jackson who does not identify as a boy.
Lopez questioned the notion of parents behavior towards gender identity with their children. “Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids, obviously, and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong,” he said. “But at the same time, my God, if you’re 3-years-old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way, or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it’s dangerous as a parent to make this determination then, well, OK, then you’re going to a boy or a girl, whatever the case may be … It’s sort of alarming and, my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on.”
The backlash has been swift against Lopez’s comments from Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown to the Human Rights Campaign who also called the media personality’s thoughts dangerous.
But on the other side of the spectrum, people have lent their support to the 45-year-old like comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr., political teen pundit CJ Pearson and fans who have flooded Lopez’s social pages with support.
I don’t even remember being 3 years old. Imagine believing that one has the mental capacity to ALTER their gender at that age.
There’s nothing “controversial” about the opinion Mario Lopez expressed.
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) July 31, 2019
See more thoughts about Lopez’s comments below.
Evidently it’s now *scandalous* to say that a child probably shouldn’t be making their own life-altering decisions at 3 years old.
🤦♂️
Mario Lopez and Candace Owens discuss.@MarioLopezExtra @RealCandaceO pic.twitter.com/2Wdc79SrjW— PragerU (@prageru) July 31, 2019
All Mario Lopez said was 3 years old is too young to be making life changing decisions. But we live in an age where if a public figure offers an unpopular opinion on LGBTQ issues, they’re “cancelled.” 🤦🏽♂️ pic.twitter.com/q1vZitbCy9
— Joshua Chenault (@joshuachenault1) July 31, 2019
Of our 5 kids, 2 are queer. They both came out in their early teens but we knew who they were way, way before then.
Parents can tell the different between a 3 year old who pretends to be another gender for fun and one who feels they are living in the wrong body. STFU Mario Lopez https://t.co/pKXketgy6P
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) July 31, 2019
BREAKING NEWS❗️
Mario Lopez is under attack for saying Parents Shouldn’t Raise a 3 Year old as Transgender
A 3 year old can barley decide between two toys so how can they choose a Gender ?
If you stand With Him! PLEASE RT or comment using the hashtag
👉 #IStandWithMarioLopez pic.twitter.com/lZ9WgCuOxq
— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) July 31, 2019
Mario Lopez is not only correct but he said what he said politely. 3 year olds aren’t able to choose their gender. I have a 3 year old. She flip flops over being a unicorn, a UFC fighter or a princess still. Anyone shaming @MarioLopezExtra needs to join us in reality. pic.twitter.com/1dkdCFoi1v
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) July 31, 2019