Lea Salonga has been a fierce supporter of her trans son, Nic Chien, since he first came out at age 14.
Salonga, 54, welcomed Nic with husband Robert Chien in May 2006, and the actress has made it known that parenthood has been one of her biggest blessings. The Tony winner recently caught up with Us Weekly to share the advice she’d like to give to all parents navigating this journey with their children.
“Being a kid is hard enough, being a queer kid is exponentially more difficult,” she exclusively told Us on Tuesday, April 8, at the opening night of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, in which Salonga stars alongside Bernadette Peters. “I only wish that the world be kind.”
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“My son and every single trans kid out there, they are bravely trying to navigate the world as who they are, despite an environment that seems hostile to their existence, so I have to lift up every single kid that has to do this,” Salonga told Us. She’s found radical acceptance is the way to go, and that has helped her and Nic, now 18 and starting his own acting career, maintain a close relationship, which has made navigating his journey all the better.
While not everything has been sunshine and rainbows, the actress is doing her best to figure things out alongside her son. She shares the one thing that’s stuck with her throughout this journey, a quote from trans Filipino singer Jake Zyrus that has helped guide her approach to parenting a trans child. “It’s something that I took along with me, ‘If you can’t understand me, at least be kind to me,’” she shared with Us.
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Salonga was joined at the opening of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends by several famous faces, including Andrew Rannells, Kristin Chenoweth and Matt Doyle. Manhattan’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre is home to the Broadway revue.
The musical is a tribute to the late composer Stephen Sondheim’s career highlights, and the star studded lineup will perform some of his greatest hits, including Into the Woods, Follies, Company and Sweeney Todd.
Salonga stars in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends through Sunday, June 15. In August, she’ll star in a production of Into the Woods alongside her son in the Philippines.
