Annette Bening Says She Felt 'Protective' Over Transgender Son: 'We Don't Need People to Stoke Up Fear'

The 'Nyad' actress spoke about son Stephen on 'The View,' saying, "Fear and ignorance is being stoked against trans people in the most frightening way"

Annette Bening is continuing to speak out in support of transgender people.

On Friday's episode of The View, the Nyad actress was asked by co-panelist Sara Haines about when she decided she "needed to enter that ring of speaking out" in support of the LGBTQIA+ community.

"At the beginning, I felt very protective of his privacy, because he’s the son of these two famous people," Bening, 65, said of her son Stephen, 32, who is transgender and the oldest of the actress's four children whom she shares with her husband of over 30 years, Warren Beatty.

"So I felt very protective, and I felt it was his right to say what he wanted to say publicly, or not. And now, as time has gone on — especially now with what’s happening, unfortunately, in the political process, [with how] trans people are being used — fear and ignorance is being stoked against trans people in the most frightening way. It’s so unfair," Bening continued.

"And I feel very, very strongly about it," she added. "I am a Democrat. We need a strong Republican party. We need a strong opposition. But we don’t need people to stoke up fear."

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Related: Stars Open Up About Their Trans Experiences, in Their Own Words

The American Beauty actress went on to tell the panelists that she has a friend who moved her "entire family" to Los Angeles from Texas because "she was very worried about what was going to happen" to her trans daughter had they stayed in Texas.

"As you know, some of the laws in Texas have gotten very Draconian, and they’re able to actually go and intervene at the school without the parent present and talk to the child. So my friend was terribly frightened," Bening said.

The two-time Golden Globe winner said she "would hope that people would find someone in their lives who's a trans person ... who is just like they are, [but] they happen to be trans."

"And if you’re even luckier, you have someone in your family, because then you really do understand that we don’t have to judge — we have to love and understand," Bening said, adding later, "We need the Republicans to stand up and say that this is wrong. And that this is heartbreaking."

Related: Warren Beatty Calls Transgender Son Stephen His 'Hero': 'He's a Revolutionary'

Bening has discussed her pride for her son in the past, telling AARP for an interview published in November 2019, "He's managed something that's very challenging with great style and great intelligence."

"He's an articulate, thoughtful person, and I'm very, very proud of him," she said.

And Bening's sentiment about Stephen is one that Beatty, 86, shares. "He's a revolutionary, a genius, and my hero, as are all my children," the Bonnie and Clyde actor told Vanity Fair back in 2016.

Bening and Beatty are also parents to son Benjamin, 29, plus daughters Isabel, 27, and Ella, 23.

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