James Woods Attacks Gender Nonconforming Kid, Parents Speak Out

Actor James Woods criticized a family for supporting their gender nonconforming son on Monday. The family has responded by using their newly found platform to advocate for love and acceptance.

Woods initially retweeted a photo of the family of three, taken while at a pride festival. The son of Lori and Matt Duron, C.J. Duron, is “gender creative” and doesn’t adhere to typical gender norms.

In Woods’ retweet, he captioned the photo by saying, “This is sweet. Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you’ve done, and stuffs both you dismembered into a freezer in the garage.”

This is sweet. Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you’ve done, and stuffs both of you dismembered into a freezer in the garage pic.twitter.com/1k3ITApFsF

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 10, 2017

Woods received plenty of backlash and support online for his comments. The actor is one of the few outspoken conservative voices in Hollywood, although his political opinions often veer into the fringe – Woods uses Twitter to bash Democratic leaders, including his favorites Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, with proven falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

After receiving attention for his post, Woods expanded on his first tweet, writing, “Using one’s child as a social justice propaganda doll is tantamount to child abuse. This is not about homophobia. Nice try though…”

Using one’s child as a social justice propaganda doll is tantamount to child abuse. This is not about homophobia. Nice try though…

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 12, 2017

Woods continued to defend himself.

“I spent my entire adult life in the New York theatre scene, kids. I have more gay friends than Liberace. So let’s stop the homophobia train.” Instead, Woods suggests that the parents are making their son a “target” for bullying, currently and in his later years.

I spent my entire adult life in the New York theatre scene, kids. I have more gay friends than Liberace. So let’s stop the homophobia train.

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 12, 2017

The Durons spoke up against Woods’ words and encouraged others to view the spat as a learning opportunity.

“Initially, I was inclined to ignore the hate, as I always do. That would have been the easiest thing to do,” Lori Duron told the Huffington Post. “But the easiest thing to do isn’t always the right thing to do. I have a voice and I’m not just an advocate for my son, I’m an advocate for all the other children like him and their families.”

“While we’ve consistently received some hate mail and negative attention, it has always been eclipsed by love, positivity, and thankfulness,” she also told the publication.

C.J.’s mother also took time to educate Woods a little more.

“LGBTQ youth don’t hurt their parents, they hurt themselves,” Duron told People. “We’re trying to raise our son in a way that he doesn’t fall into those behaviors. [Woods’] tweet was uninformed. LGBTQ youth do not kill other people, they kill themselves.”