Marlon Wayans is standing his ground after after he shared his support for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month.
And given that he’s the father of a trans child, the In Living Color alum’s support for the community comes from a place close to his heart and home.
So it makes perfect sense he would stand up and defend himself from online bashers following his initial post on Friday where he shared pictures from his recent Pride-themed photoshoot he did with photographer Parrish Lewis.
‘Happy PRIDE to all my LGBTQ+ peoples. Did a photo shoot with the great photographer @parrish_lewis dope pic,’ he captioned the first image showing him sitting with a rainbow flag draped over his shoulder. ‘P.S. I’m STRAIGHT… well, according to my child CISGENDER male. I just love and support my peoples,’ he clarified before promoting that his comedy special Good Grief is now out on Prime Video.
Sadly, his initial post elicited scores of people to post hateful and bigoted comments, but let it be known there appeared to be even more people who showed support for Wayans, his son, and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.
Marlon Wayans, 51, who’s a father of trans child Kai, 24, hit back at social media haters who bashed him for showing support for Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community
There were a number of people who used religion as their reasoning for criticizing Wayans.
‘Just bcuz society is for this doesn’t mean it’s right,’ another faith-based person argued. ‘The Bible speaks of this in the end times. You can still love your child and not be for this movement.’
Another user shot back, ‘You can love the child but not SUPPORT a child behavior ….just my belief Queen.’
As part of the conversation an apparent LGBTQ+ community supporter argued, ‘It’s not a behavior. It’s who they are. So you know more than them?’
The hateful replies didn’t deter Wayans. In fact, they only inspired him to share more photos from the shoot.
‘Yeah and just for the HATE MONGERS … I’m posting ANOTHER,’ he captioned a second image showing him draped with the flag while sitting amongst a bunch of colorful balls.
The war of words started innocently when the actor and comedian shared some pictures of his photoshoot with Parrish Lewis, which elicited some harsh comments about Wayans and the LGBTQ+ community
After a slew of backlash, Wayans took back to his Instagram page and wrote, ‘Yeah and just for the HATE MONGERS … I’m posting ANOTHER’
‘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 a** never loved me in the first place,’ he explained. ‘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.’
Wayans was met with a swell of support in the comments, including from niece Chaunte Wayans, who wrote, ‘This is dope! Thank you for always supporting & letting me wear your clothes!’
Janelle Monae chimed in, ‘Thank you!! Happy Pride to us!’ while Tiffany Haddish and Mehcad Brooks both reacted with rainbow and rainbow flag emojis.
To hammer home his point, Wayans posted a third photo in the conversation, only this time he flashed a scary face while holding up a rainbow mask that he held up to cover part of his face.
‘You mad?! I can do this s**t ALL DAY… but instead I think I’ll do it ALL MONTH,’ he proclaimed. ‘HAPPY PRIDE Love and Laughter will always drown hate.’
He ended with another shameless promotion, writing, GOOD GRIEF on @primevideo NOW.’
Folowing even more hateful comments, the actor and comedian to post another photo to help make his point: ‘You mad?! I can do this s**t ALL DAY… but instead I think I’ll do it ALL MONTH’
Th Scary Movie star posted another photo of himself with a rainbow mask covering part of his face: ‘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!’
About two hours later the Requiem For A Dream star shared another image of himself with the rainbow mask, as he flashes another look with his head tilted.
‘Do i look like I really give a f**k?! Happy PRIDD month. Especially to all the hateful dudes out there mad because I’m supporting family and friends,’ he wrote, adding, ‘For people to be that homophobic wreaks of repressed feelings/desires. Bruh, don’t live like that. Come on out. Be you. That’s what PRIDE is all about… acceptance. I swear i got soooo many more pics.’
Wayans had a slew of people come to his defense and show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
‘A lot of you men a really showing your insecurity and homophobia in these comments. He did a photo shoot, his child is apart of the community, he’s an ally, what’s the problem?’ one person argued.
Another critic posted: ‘I always wondered how him and his brother played a [gay person] in movies so we’ll now I know.’ which garnered a simple but to the point reaction: ‘He supports his kid wtf is the problem???’
Another Wayans supporter declared: ”Y’all better quit hating. That middle finger is cocked and loaded for you all. (Pause).’
One specific Instagram user shared some words of wisdom after taking in much of the war of words, writing, ‘People want love and support, but hate when others support OTHERS! Make that make sense.’
The proud father of three occasionally shares photos of kids on social media, which includes Kai and Shawn Wayans, the trio are seen in March 2023
Several people professing to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community shared their thanks to Wayans for supporting them as human beings.
Just last year, Wayans opened up about embracing his trans child, Kai, during an interview with The Breakfast Club.
‘I just want my kids to be free,” Wayans said at the time. “I want them to be free in spirit, free in thought, free to be themselves. The more you know yourself, the more you can govern yourself, the more you live your truth, the happier your existence.’
Wayans shares his kids Kai and Shawn with his ex-partner Angela Zackery, with whom he was in a relationship from 1992 to 2013.
He also has a young one-year-old daughter Axl, who he co-parents with ex-girlfriend Brittany Moreland.