Warren Beatty and Annette Bening's transgender son Stephen appears in PSA calling for healthcare for trans community
By COLETTE FAHY
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His actor parents are well known activists and Stephen Ira Beatty seems determined to follow in their footsteps.
The eldest child of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, who revealed he was transgender at the age of 14, appears in a new public service announcement (PSA) urging New York to change its Medicaid regulation which excludes transgender people from accessing healthcare.
Stephen, 21, appears confident and informed as he speaks about the problem, saying: ‘I grew up outside of New York, but I've always known I've wanted to move here for the city's vibrant artistic community.
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Activist: Warren Beatty's transgender son Stephen Ira Beatty appears in a new PSA urging New York to change its Medicaid regulation which excludes transgender people from accessing healthcare
‘As a trans person, I would hope that I'd be welcomed but many trans people aren't because we don't have the basic healthcare coverage we need to survive.’
The video has been produced by GLAAD and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and features a number of transgender people along with the mother of a transgender woman.
Medicaid is the United States health programme for families and individuals with low income and resources. This new PSA is opposing the New York State Medicaid which specifically excludes transgender people from accessing care.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah are being called upon to overturn the regulation.
Well informed: His actor parents are well known activists and Stephen Ira has shown he has the insight and confidence to follow in their footsteps
Stephen was born Kathlyn Elizabeth and has three younger siblings.
Last year he made a video in which he talked openly about his transition from female to make, and listed his friends and peers as his greatest supporters.
Nowhere in the six-and-a-half-minute video was there mention of his famous parents, who are reported to have initially struggled with transition.
Support: The video has been produced by GLAAD and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and features a number of transgender people including Stephen
In the video, Stephen answered a series of questions, including one which asked who has been most supportive of his transition from female to male.
‘My friends, my peers who I'm lucky to have relationships with a lot of, ever since high school, when I came out and transitioned socially when I was 14 or so,' said Stephen, who appeared to be standing in his college dorm room.
The eldest child of Hollywood power couple Beatty and Bening, Stephen is a junior student at the prestigious Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Famous parents: Stephen is the first born of Annette Bening and Warren Beatty's four children and came out as transgender at the age of 14
He is also an outspoken activist for the transgender community, and as part of his grass-roots involvement writes a blog for the WeHappyTrans website called 'Super Mattachine'.
The name of his blog refers to the Mattachine Society, one of the first gay rights groups founded by Harry Hay in 1948.
He describes himself in his blog by saying: ‘I’m an activist and a writer; I live in Yonkers, NY, where I’m a junior at Sarah Lawrence College. We don’t do majors, but I study poetry, literature, queer studies, and critical theory. I’m a gay trans man for whom both identities are equally important, a femme-inist, and a white person trying to do anti-racist work (sic).’
Public transition: Annette at the airport with Stephen, born Kathlyn, who came out as a boy seven years ago
Early days: Annette Bening, Warren Beatty and their children Kathlyn (Stephen), Isabel and Benjamin in 2007 around the time Stephen came out as male. They also have one more child, Ella
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2508124/Warren-Beatty-Annette-Benings-transgender-son-Stephen-appears-PSA-calling-healthcare-trans-community.html#ixzz2kxE0lSQk
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