Sarah Michelle Gellar has been an LGBTQ+ fave since the days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cruel Intentions, and now she’s opening up about how she’s raising her own children to be open to exploring their identities when they’re ready.
In a new interview with People, the actress talked about her new spot as an ally in Cann and Weedmaps’ incredible Pride campaign, before turning to her own family’s experience with the LGBTQ+ community.
"Luckily my children are growing up in Los Angeles, in a big city where they’ve always understood since they were little that some people have two dads, some people have two moms, some people have only one parent," she said. "It’s just the way it is."
Gellar noted that what’s most important to her and her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., is that their children grow up to be “kind and empathetic,” and to “judge people on their actions,” rather than the labels they give themselves.
She’s also wary of her kids putting themselves into a box too soon, and seems to stress the importance of always being open to evolving and learning new things about yourself.
"I think it’s hard to be young right now and to grow up and I see kids feel the need to label themselves even earlier and it’s like, you’ll figure out who you are," she said. "I mean, I’m still figuring out who I am and I’m an old person."
Of course, some older kids or young teens do understand that they are attracted to one gender or another or several, just like many kids are able to recognize that they identify as a specific gender, whether it matches the one they were assigned at birth or not, from a young age.
But Gellar’s approach seems to be based around making sure her kids don’t feel the pressure to decide one way or another just because they might be around more self-assured peers.
"I also…tell my kids that it’s okay to take to figure out who you are and what you want," she explained.
"I think everything needs to be about inclusivity."
