Actor Cheyenne Jackson posted a sweet video over the weekend. It offers a glimpse into his family life.
Cheyenne, 47, met his husband, Jason Landau, in 2013. They married in 2014. In October 2016, they welcomed twins Ethan and Willow into their lives, meaning their kids are now six years old.
Cheyenne said they recently experienced a “big night” in their family: “A big night for any parent.” His kids came out to him.
Watch below.
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“Our kids came out. As straight,” he says. “We were eating dinner and out of the blue, Willow says, ‘I don’t think I’m gay.’
Jackson, obviously surprised by this announcement from his six-year-old, thought it best to just acknowledge it. “Me and Jason were like, ‘OK. Great. I mean, we love you no matter what’.”
He continues that “Then, Ethan, without missing a beat and without looking up from his food goes, ‘Yeah, I’m not gay either. But I want to go to the parade’.”
On Instagram, the video prompted plenty of love.
“Omg. I love you all. ❤️” commented Ricki Lake. Rosie O’Donnell, who is also a gay parent, posted, “Love this ❤️❤️❤️”
Actress and singer Laure Bell Bundy said, “I just love everything about all of that. And you. ❤️. I still wanna go to the parade too….”
It’s a sweet insight into same-sex parenting. Given they’re only six years old, there’s every chance Ethan and Willow may express something else when they’re older. However, one thing is for sure. Whatever their sexuality, Cheyenne and his husband Jason will love and support them.
Related: Cheyenne Jackson posts a sweet photo and words of tribute to his son
Awset Wrae
One of the best little gay stories I saw in a long time.
Diplomat
Made my morning…
LumpyPillows
I took a deep breath before reading this. There were so many ways this could go off the rails. Released my breath and smiled. Nicely done.
masterwill7
Yes, same here! I though more oil for those conservative a$$hole who try to be offended by everything! But this was just great!
Openminded
Obviously these guys are terrible parents if they are unable to “turn” their kids gay in 6 years.
Mack
@Openminded well the gays are accused of grooming children, gurr the conservative a$$holes got to look elsewhere.
inbama
Yep.
This is how “identity politics” and “queer theory” undermine our hard-earned rights and fighting years of lies that homosexuality is contagious.
Sexual orientation is real. The child cannot understand it before puberty and the brain sexually matures, but it is set in stone by age three or four.
Den
“This is how “identity politics” and “queer theory” undermine our hard-earned rights and fighting years of lies that homosexuality is contagious.”
Though I am no fan of any sort of non-empirical social theory (queer or otherwise), identity politics has undeniable usefulness in casting light on systemic differences in treatment of those seen as minorities or outside of social norms (that is really not a hard thing to understand). But getting back to “queer theory”, please indicate using both words and your mind how it undermines current knowledge about sexual orientation and gender identity, and how it supports the notion that sexuality is “contagious” (a right wing dogma with no support whatsoever from researchers or the LGBT community). Use facts not your imagination or prejudices (or those of others).
dbmcvey
You are a truly disturbed individual.
inbama
@Den
Your questions were answered by the facts in my post and in your response.
Sex, sexual orientation, paraphilias, DSDs, gender dysphoria, body dysmorphic disorder – actual science free of politics is the only way we can understand who and why we are and not social theories hatched in gender studies classrooms. Seeking out actual scientific truth is even more important now than in the past given LGBTQIA+ organizations’ embrace of childhood medical interventions.
As far as the utility of such ideas, I would suggest that all our progress in regard to rights has come from appeals to equal treatment under the law, fairness, and the emphasis on what we share with the rest of society rather than on our differences. Queer identity Politics are taking us in the exact opposite direction, and so far all it’s given us is Ron DeSantis.
Den
“Sexual orientation is real. The child cannot understand it before puberty and the brain sexually matures, but it is set in stone by age three or four.”
That sentence may be a fact but it is totally unrelated to your misunderstandings and ultimately right wingish interpretation of both identity politics and queer theory (which has some small value, and like CRT is not taught to kids). Seems you think they are the same thing as DeSantis does.
“all our progress in regard to rights has come from appeals to equal treatment under the law, fairness, and the emphasis on what we share with the rest of society rather than on our differences.”
All our progress in regard to societal acceptance (such as it is) has come, by contrast, from being who we are publicly and eschewing assimilationist ideas. I have always been naturally “straight appearing” but have made a point of mentioning my gayness as often as possible/necessary. Others by not moderating their behavior have slowly made life easier for all of us. Notions of sexuality (which may be given fancy names by psychologists) are glaringly non-empirical and colored by underlying bias. Thus there are “scientific” hypotheses casting homosexuality, bisexuality and gender variation as both normal and as some sort of pathology. There are currently no strong genetic or neurological theories for these things. Exposure to those who are different, however dulls the fear and anger aroused in so many by gender, affectional and sexual differences. As for “paraphilias”, those are found equally across the sexual spectrum…so in terms of numbers, way more commonly heterosexual.
“The child cannot understand it before puberty and the brain sexually matures”
I was well aware that I had some basic difference years before puberty, as many lgbt people are. Puberty simply made clear what that difference was. AND, were there examples of the variety of LGBT people available to me (in the very early 1960s) I might have been spared years of depression, alienation and occasional suicidal ideation. Identity politics can help with that by making the existence of a varied and vital gay community more obvious. DeSantis (and I suspect you) prefer that gayness/queerness not be particularly visible, even the kinds of PDAs common on the street among hetero couples. Legal protection for same sex marriage, the hate crime legislation and non discrimination legislation that is kinda-sorta extended to LGBT people is not what got us visible in print and broadcast media such that kids no longer only see the “information” I did (pretty much all media back then claimed we cannot form stable relationships, live lonely lives marked by substance abuse and are security risks…not because of societal discrimination but because of our “sick” nature). It was LGBT people of all stripes expressing themselves in public that did.
The way to oppose folks like DeSantis is to make sure LGBT people in all our variety remain visible, not to either assimilate into heterosexual society or disappear.
ondaboat0069
Hope MTG doesn’t get a whiff of this
Den
Whatever she had to say about it would be amusing as hell!
banditboy
Cute video but having not even reached puberty yet, these kids have no idea if they are gay or straight. If a 6 year old said he was gay to his parents, the “cute” reaction would be far different. These videos only create more issues with our detractors.
LumpyPillows
I knew I was gay by 6. Didn’t have the words for it back then since we were still writing in hieroglyphics. Could they change their minds? Yep.
v6origal97
Puberty has nothing to do with it. I knew how I felt at age 5. It was based off emotional attraction and innocent crushes.
d3clark
No, that’s not true. Some children do know if they are gay or straight at very young ages.
If the child said he was gay to his parents the outcome may be exactly the same based on the parents’ mindsets.
You really shouldn’t be making such sweeping statements while ignoring other points of view.
Den
By the time I was 6 I was aware that I was somehow different from my friends. Didn’t really understand how, but that became instantly clear the minute the hormones of puberty kicked in. I have known people who knew exactly how they were different at that age, and people who didn’t realize they were gay until their 30’s. We’re all very different.
Mack
@LumpyPillows don’t know about 6 years old but by 10 I already had a crush on Johnny Crawford of the Rifleman and Ricky Nelson.
LumpyPillows
Mack, you have good taste!
mikhailmaui
Sorry banditboy, I knew at 5 that I liked boys and not girls.
ralphb
@ Mack. I was a little older than you at the time Johnny Crawford and Ricky Nelson were on the air, but I too had a crush on both of them. Ahhhhh, the good ole’ days.
Steve
I knew I was a boy who liked to look at and think about boys vs. girls since I was in 1st grade. I wanted girls as friends, and I had a lot of them. I had no terminology nor understanding of what I was, I just knew I was different. This will date me, but I also discovered the picture of the ‘fully’ nude Burt Reynolds centerfold in Cosmo on the pile of magazines on the back of the toilet in my home run by my single grandmother and single mom — I guess one of them obtained it. I thought that picture of that man was beautiful and perfect that was near the beginning of second grade. The signs were there in my brain, just not the safety nor vocabulary to describe it or know that I wasn’t the only boy who didn’t want to kiss a girl. .
Saskatchewan
Be a parent is challenging. This story has a bright light for us all.. When I was 6 years old I wanted to be Sammy Davis Jr. I grew out of it when I met discovered Dianna Ross 🙂
Tim Blewett
This is so nice and affirming. You are who you are. No one made you that way.
SDR94103
cute.
maddog
My “sexual attraction” has always been fairly low, so I did not realize I was “gay” until my late twenties. I tried to have sex with women, and felt nothing. Then I tried men, and was attracted to them. Maybe it was set in stone at five or six, maybe at puberty, but I was not sure.
Whatever inspired these six-year-olds to come out and state to their parents that they were not gay, and whether that will continue until and after puberty makes no difference. Acceptance and love makes the difference. These kids are lucky to have good parents. And the parents are lucky to have trusting children.
MSM
I knew i was queer before puberty . I didnt know what the words meant but i knew i liked to watch chorus boys dancing and singing on tv shows. When i told my parents at around the age of 11 or 12, that i wanted to be a chorus boy dancer and singer, they just stared at each other. I got the feeling it was something I should not have said. I love how Cheyenne so matter of factly replied to the kids.
P.S…i am 75 now and still wish to be a chorus boy, but alas, lack the talent.
Next time, perhaps.
Donston
It’s perfectly fine for kids to express those things to their parents and to have it received well by their parents. Of course a kid can understand attractions or interests even if their sexual dimensions, sexual maturity, the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum has not fully formed. It is important to have a healthy balance of supporting your kids who express these things but without taking it too serious. Even adults change their identities, contend with fluidity/questioning, have a difficult time understanding how individual sexuality can be and understand what they want, their preferences and who they want to love.
Openminded
Totally agree with your statement of healthy balance of support. I often wonder how many parents take the first small signal from their kids that they are gay or trans and run with it, never giving the child the opportunity to say, hey, I’m feeling straight today. Support is important, not deliberate guidance down one path or another.
Claytonisahobo
I don’t like children however when the kid said “I’m not gay but I still want to go to the parade”…..that’s adorable and should totally be on a T-shirt 🙂
LumpyPillows
T-shirt. Yes!
bachy
I just can’t help myself. Whenever anyone I know starts talking about “parenting” my mind just goes blank.
LumpyPillows
I wanted kids. Did not work out. Now that it is easier for gay men to adopt, I’m too old to do the job justice.
bachy
Don’t forget the inner child which needs tending to.
LumpyPillows
Well, I do get called a big baby from time to time 🙂