Saffron Burrows’ 12-Year-Old Comes Out as Non-Binary, Praised for Insight on Gender

British actress Saffron Burrows has revealed that her eldest child has come out as non-binary. 

The actress, 52, who starred in the hit Netflix series, You, is bisexual and shares her two children with her ex-wife, American screenwriter Alison Balian.

Explaining that her 12-year-old has helped her to see gender and identity in a new light Saffron said: ‘I’m the parent now of a non binary child.’

She added: ‘I’m in a state of learning all the time about how they want to be addressed, what their philosophies are on the world – which are already very developed, aged just twelve’.

The Troy star described both her children as ‘very smart’ – especially when it comes to identity and language.

Speaking on the Circle This podcast, Saffron described how parenting has been a continuation of the liberal values she was raised with herself.

British actress Saffron Burrows has revealed that her eldest child has come out as non-binary (pictured in 2022)

Explaining that her 12-year-old has helped her to see gender and identity in a new light Saffron said: ‘I’m the parent now of a non binary child’

She grew up in North London in a proudly left-wing household, and said her mother – former primary school teacher and equal rights activist Susie Burrows – gave her the freedom to love anyone she wanted from an early age.

‘As a kid, I was always drawn to who I thought were the most interesting people in the room – sometimes boys, sometimes girls,’ she reflected.

‘But I was always drawn to very strong individuals – as most of us are. I’m not unusual in that, but I remember thinking I had the right to love who I wanted to love.

‘My mum gave me that sense of self… And I’ve lived by that. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to live by that. The vast majority of the population in the world isn’t in that position.’

She added she is now passing that philosophy down to the next generation.

‘It’s something I would hope to give my children – and to their friends and their circle, too.’

Saffron came out as bisexual in 1999. She got engaged to then-closeted actor Alan Cumming in the 90s, after which she dated the film director Mike Figgis for three years.

She then struck up a high-profile romance with stage and screen star Fiona Shaw after they both appeared on the London stage in an adaptation of Jeanette Winterton’s novel about lesbian love, The Powerbook.

The actress, 52, who starred in the hit Netflix series, You, is bisexual and shares her two children with her ex-wife, American screenwriter Alison Balian (pictured together in 2016)

Speaking on the Circle This podcast , Saffron described how parenting has been a continuation of the liberal values she was raised with herself

She added: ‘I’m in a state of learning all the time about how they want to be addressed, what their philosophies are on the world – which are already very developed, aged just twelve’

Saffron, whose other admirers have included Daniel Day-Lewis and Mick Jagger, also once became close to President Bill Clinton while filming in the US – but admitted the person she most fancied was his wife, Hillary.

She later met her wife-to-be, Alison, a writer and producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with whom she welcomed a son in 2012 and a daughter in 2017.

The pair married in 2013 but separated five years ago and now co-parent their children.

Despite the split, Saffron has described motherhood as the defining role of her life.

On the podcast she reflected on her awe at childbirth – tracing it back to when she was just 15 and watched her brother being born.

‘It was so powerful,’ she said. ‘A lot of what you hope for is that these individuals can go forth without bodily harm and interruption and then become what they need to – or wish to – but mostly what they need to become.

‘There’s a path that’s the clearest path, if you can get out of the way and try and follow it.’