Cynthia Nixon recalled the reaction that her son Samuel, who is transgender, had after seeing author J.K. Rowling’s controversial anti-trans comments.
“It was really painful for him because so much of his childhood was tied up with Harry Potter,” Nixon, 54, told The Independent in an interview posted on Monday, September 14. “We’re a Harry Potter family. The books seem to be about championing people who are different, so for her to select this one group of people who are obviously different and sort of deny their existence, it’s just … it’s really baffling.”
The Sex and the City alum added, “I know she feels like she’s standing up for feminism, but I don’t get it.”
Rowling, 55, drew criticism in June for her stance on LGBTQ+ issues. She had tweeted out an article titled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate,” which she followed up by writing: “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
When the tweet sparked outcry across Twitter, Rowling defended her stance by noting how people should “never assume that because someone thinks differently, they have no knowledge” on the subject. She then argued that “erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives,” and said she doesn’t believe it’s “hate to speak the truth.”
Rowling’s remarks received pushback from GLAAD in addition to an abundance of celebrities, including Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. She was also forced to return an honor bestowed upon her by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.
Nixon, meanwhile, shares Samuel — who also goes by Seph — with her ex Danny Mozes. In addition to the 23-year-old, she is the mother of sons Charles, 17, with Mozes and Max, 9, with wife Christine Marinoni.
In June 2018, Nixon revealed that her eldest child identified as transgender as she supported the 14th annual Trans Day of Action. “I’m so proud of my son Samuel Joseph Mozes (called Seph) who graduated college this month,” she captioned the post of Samuel on the day of his graduation from the University of Chicago. “I salute him and everyone else marking today’s #TransDayOfAction.”
Nixon previously told Us Weekly exclusively how much she admires Samuel since he came out as transgender. “I’m very proud of him,” she said in April 2019. “It’s one of those things. I felt really weird using the other pronoun in public, but people didn’t know yet.”
The former New York gubernatorial candidate continued, “He was good with it, and it was really nice, actually, when we announced it. There was some general, you know, voicings of support but generally, it was not a big deal. I was kind of shocked at what a non-event it was, which is just how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time.”
