Actor, comedian, and dad Marlon Wayans had an eventful Father’s Day weekend after he posted a Pride tribute mentioning his queer child and featuring a pic from a rainbow-themed photo shoot with photographer Parrish Lewis.
“Happy PRIDE to all my LGBTQ+ peoples,” Wayans captioned the first in a series of posts. “P.S.,” he added, “I’m STRAIGHT… well, according to my child CISGENDER male. I just love and support my peoples.”
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“I think there’s a lot of parents out there that need to have that message.”
The pic depicted the LGBTQ+ ally, 52 — who counts a trans son among his three kids — draped in a rainbow flag and wearing a pair of covetable silver sneaks with blown-up silver laces.
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Praise poured in for Wayans, who boasts nearly 7 million followers on Instagram.
“As someone who’s a part of the community and has worked with you closely,” out rapper and YouTuber Todrick Hall replied, “I just want to say thank you for advocating for the community before and after you knew your child was a part of it! We need more black fathers like you! Proud of you for posting this with your chest. Love ya and happy pride 🏳️🌈”
Nonbinary sing Janelle Monáe jumped in to write, “Thank you!! Happy Pride to us!”
On X, another LGBTQ+ fan added, “Damn, I appreciate seeing this level of compassionate, confident, and loving energy from a Black man with influence.”
While Wayans’ post drew hundreds of thousands of likes, the ratio wasn’t all good vibrations.
But the negative commenters didn’t cow the In Living Color comedian, though, who responded with more selects from the shoot and some fire for his detractors.
“Yeah and just for the HATE MONGERS … I’m posting ANOTHER,” Wayans wrote.
“As a father of a child in the LGBTQ+ community I show my support. Zero f**ks what people think. If i lost you… GOOD! Your hateful ass never loved me in the first place. How can you love anyone when you’re too busy judging. Some of y’all funny. I’m a troll. I’ll post all day.”
“I hope I lose every follower that is ignorant,” Wayans wailed on the haters.
In another post, Wayans went deep with some armchair psychoanalysis.
“For people to be that homophobic wreaks of repressed feelings/desires,” Wayans captioned a fourth Instagram post. “Bruh, don’t live like that. Come on out. Be you. That’s what PRIDE is all about… acceptance.”
The Men on Films — a very gay and catty comedy duo portrayed in part by his brother Damon Wayans — would have loved it.
Promoting a new stand-up special last fall that includes the story of his son Kai’s coming out, Wayans told the hosts on the drive-time radio show The Breakfast Club that the revelation was initially “very painful” for him, but he’s evolved and grown since.
“As a parent, I just want my kids to be free,” he said. “I want them to be free in spirit, free in thought, free to be themselves,” he said. “The more you live your truth, the happier your existence.”
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