An Orange County family has drawn attention from two renowned actors after posting a photo on a parenting blog and Twitter.
Lori Duron, author of “Raising my Rainbow,” a book and blog about raising a gender nonconforming son, posted a photo June 26 on her blog and on Twitter of the family posing together at the OC Pride celebration on Twitter.
Lori, husband Matt and 10-year-old son C.J. were holding signs and a rainbow flag. She says it was C.J.’s first trip to Pride and he had self-identified as a member of the LGBTQ community at age 8, a HuffPost interview said.
On Sunday, July 9, actor James Woods, who has been known for his conservative views, posted the photo on Twitter with a comment.
This is sweet. Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you’ve done, and stuffs both of you dismembered into a freezer in the garage pic.twitter.com/1k3ITApFsF
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 10, 2017
Woods’ post drew hateful reactions across social media, the family said. But the comment also drew a response Tuesday, July 11, from actor Neil Patrick Harris, who is openly gay and a parent of two. Harris and husband David Burtka wrote the foreword to Duron’s book.
Utterly ignorant and classless, Mr. Woods. I’m friends with this family. You know not of what you speak, and should be ashamed of yourself. https://t.co/ZrbtZH49sp
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) July 11, 2017
The Twitter traffic has received attention from national publications like HuffPost and People magazine. The family did an interview with HuffPost with their reaction to the comments.
“It’s hard being the bigger man when someone attacks your family and does it in the way Woods did it. I’ll leave it at that,” Matt Duron told HuffPost.
His wife said:” I was totally and completely shocked at first. … I saw the Tweet because someone had posted it on Facebook and one of our friends left a comment defending us. At first, I couldn’t quite make sense of his words in conjunction with the picture of us at Pride. Like, my brain couldn’t register that James Woods ― a somewhat public figure ― was saying that my sweet, happy, harmless 10-year-old son will eventually kill us, dismember us and stuff us in the freezer.
“Woods also implied that we force our son to be gender creative. Anybody who has followed our journey knows that is not true. I’ve written about how much easier our lives would be if both of our boys were straight and cisgender.”
Woods addressed the family again in series of tweets Wednesday.
For the record I have supported human rights of all stripes and persuasions, colors, creeds, choices and preferences my entire life. Period.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 12, 2017
Some children can be ruthlessly cruel to children who are simply different in any way. I humbly suggest making your child a target is unwise
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 12, 2017
I spent my entire adult life in the New York theatre scene, kids. I have more gay friends than Liberace. So let’s stop the homophobia train.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 12, 2017
Lori said that after Harris’ tweet, she felt like she had an army of support.
“With Neil being who he is and having the audience he does, that positive emotion was multiplied. We are so thankful for his tweet and support. When other celebrities started re-tweeting Neil’s tweet, it felt like this big, powerful, loving, supportive army had assembled in front of us and we could take a moment to catch our breath.”
Read the full interview with the family here and in People here.