Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis told Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough she is “terrified” for her trans daughter Ruby because of the tide of anti-transgender sentiment in the country.
In an interview that aired on Friday morning’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe — but was filmed before the beginning of the SAG/AFTRA strike — Scarborough asked Curtis about supporting her trans daughter Ruby, and both lamented the hostility and demonization that trans people face:
SCARBOROUGH: I saw an Instagram of you going in to the Disney Store. And you had the pride hat on. You thanked Disney. That was especially personal for you. You said something about learning from Ruby? And you talked about how you’re learning every day, every day every day. And the bottom line is, it’s about compassion. I mean, you’re right. I’m I’m like, I’m an old, preppy dude. I don’t get a lot of stuff. But it’s that line from ”a river runs through it.” We can completely love those. We don’t completely understand. And I don’t you wish that the political climate right now, especially on this issue was so different than it is, how hurtful is it for you as a mom to see the hostility–JAMIE LEE CURTIS: They’ve demonized trans people. It’s awful! And it’s terrifying!SCARBOROUGH: It’s getting worse ((every day)). Every day it’s getting worse.JAMIE LEE CURTIS: At the bottom line, it’s life is about love. Being a parent is about love and And I love Ruby. Love her. And I, people have said, You’re so great to accept her love. What are you talking about? (((This is what parents do))) this is my daughter, this human being has come to me and said, This is who I am. And my job is to say, Welcome home.I will fight and defend her right to exist to anyone who claims that she doesn’t. And there are those people. And it’s, it’s going to be a really challenging time, regardless of the political– I mean, there’s a lot of political rhetoric–awful political rhetoric, particularly coming from your home state. I’m so sorry.As you know, my favorite Twitter is the waking up in don’t say gay Florida, someone waking up going gay. And, you know, obviously, I’m trying to learn the most important thing is that I don’t know everything. And I, I wake up every day sober, saying, I don’t know everything. I don’t know a lot. There are a lot of things I don’t know about. And there’s a lot of this that I need to learn. And I have gone to teachers, I’ve gone to people and said, Please educate me, helped me learn what the issue is, why that’s so important and what the other opinion is, so that I can hear both sides. Because if I only hear one side of an argument or an idea, then I have no ability to think and the whole idea here is we can think we have minds to think.And as you said, you’re like, how do you walk through this? Nobody said there’s no handbook. There are people who will be helpful guides.But I get it wrong. And I said something wrong with the Academy Awards. The first question was something about gender equity within de-gendering things and just, I messed it up. And I got called out by somebody on Twitter or something saying she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. And she was right. I didn’t. Because what that wasn’t the point the point, I misunderstood the point. So I’m learning. I’m trying. I’m, I’m human. But at the bottom line is, I’m a mom.
Watch above via MSNBC’s Morning Joe.