Rosie O'Donnell reveals shock reaction to child Clay, 12, coming out as non-binary
And Just Like That star O'Donnell, 63, adopted Clay with late ex-wife Michelle Rounds in 2013. Rounds died by suicide in 2017 aged 46.
Speaking to Variety Magazine, O'Donnell detailed the moment her child made the big revelation, saying: 'They said to me, "Mommy, I'm non-binary. I'm not a boy and I'm not a girl." I said, "Okay, fantastic."
'They go, "My pronouns are they/them, and I'd like them respected." I will do my very best, right? Who are they, Harvey Milk reincarnated?'
The comedian said Clay had asked her if she was also non-binary, adding: 'I said, "Well, you know what, honey, I'm an O.G. lesbian. I'm a girl who knew I was a girl, who liked being a girl, but didn't feel like a real girl. But I never wanted to be a boy. I never thought about boys. I was only always thinking about girls." And then they said, 'What did your class say when you told them?'
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'Can you imagine? They have no understanding of what it was like when I was 10 in 1972 and nobody mentioned it. The word was not said — you would never admit it.
'You'd go to church and hear horrible things about people like you, and Billie Jean [King] and Martina [Navratilova] had to disclaim their lesbianism and pretend they were not gay in order to continue working on the tennis circuit, and that was so painful for me when I was a 10-year-old. They didn't understand. I've been trying to explain to them what it was like when I was a kid, and they are stunned.'
O'Donnell is mom to four other children, Vivienne, 22, Blake, 25, Chelsea, 27, and Parker, 30.
O'Donnell came out in February 2002 as part of her act at the Ovarian Cancer Research benefit at Caroline's Comedy Club in New York City.
The announcement came two months before the end of her talk show.
The Rosie O'Donnell Show ran for six seasons and won her five Daytime Emmys before she stepped back to spend more time with her children.
Last month O'Donnell insisted she has 'no regrets' after fleeing the United States for Ireland to escape Donald Trump 's second term in the White House.
The liberal comedian and actress told CNN that she blames 'Project 2025' for making her and her non-binary child Clay feel unsafe in the US, but said that she is happy with her new life in Ireland.
'I have no regrets. Not a day has gone by that I thought it was the wrong decision,' she said. 'I was welcomed with open arms.
O'Donnell recently insisted she has 'no regrets' after fleeing the United States for Ireland to escape Donald Trump 's second term in the White House, and blamed 'Project 2025' for motivating her to move across the Atlantic
'I knew that after reading Project 2025 that if Trump got in it was time for me and my non-binary child to leave the country.'
O'Donnell noted that she was not among the A-listers like Ellen DeGeneres and America Ferrera who publicly threatened to leave the US before the election, and said she 'made the decision with my family and my therapist.'
'When (Trump) won, we made the plan into action and we were gone before he was inaugurated.'
The comedian has been an outspoken critic of Trump for years, and said she has been 'heartbroken' to see what actions Trump has taken in his first months back in office.
O'Donnell said while she is happy with her move across the Atlantic, she has struggled to watch from afar how Trump has rapidly reshaped the United States in only a few months.
'It's been heartbreaking,' she said.
'I knew that if I was in the United States and watched him destroy the country and the constitution, and really pay no mind to the laws that the Founders stood by and that our country stands for as a beacon of shining light and freedom for the rest of the world.
'That should he do what the Heritage Foundation said he was going to do, in that Project 2025, that we were going to be in big trouble.
'It's as bad as they promised, and even a little bit worse, it's been heartbreaking and very, very sad to watch.'
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