A four-year-old child has captured hearts – and sparked a heated online debate – after announcing he was a boy via a rainbow-fueled gender reveal at the Vancouver Pride Parade in Canada.
Charlie Danger Lloyd was assigned female at birth – but from a young age expressed he was a boy, his mum said, as reported by the new york post.
Now-viral footage and photos captured the moment young Charlie – with his grandmother by his side – released a confetti cannon that filled the area with blue smoke.
“Once they closed the road, Charlie strutted out with Grammy and they faced the sidelines and after a short struggle, the cannon exploded with blue smoke and biodegradable confetti,” his mum, 27-year-old Alaina Bourrel, told South West News Service after her little boy ran into her arms.
“Charlie jumped with joy as the crowd cheered him on. He couldn’t believe the love and support he was shown from the bystanders.”
Despite Charlie’s happiness, his mum said she has come under attack by vicious trolls online, calling her a “paedophile, groomer and rapist” for her son’s transition.
However, Ms Bourrel said that her child started expressing different gender needs at the age of two, telling her family he was “growing to look just like daddy” and “I’m a boy” all day, every day.
The proud mum said the parade moment was dreamt up after they told Charlie the family held a previous gender reveal before he was born – where the smoke didn’t work properly.
“When we told him the story, he asked for a re-do with his granny at the Vancouver Pride Parade – so we bought him a smoke cannon and tucked it away for this day,” she said.
“He wasn’t your typical little girl. He would play with other boys and the parents would say he was more of a boy than their own children,” Ms Bourrel recalled, saying the family didn’t think anything of it until the end of 2021, when he didn’t want to shop in the girl’s section and wanted his hair cut short.
“He refused to shop in the girl’s section, but was too nervous to shop in the boy’s. After lots of expressing his feelings and emotions with me, he decided that he wanted a new wardrobe so we set out to find our new style.”
About a month after buying his new wardrobe, Charlie was ready to get his hair cut.
“We made an appointment with Lia at Big Bros Barbershop, a trans-owned and operated salon in East Vancouver,” his mum said.
“After leaving the salon that afternoon, Charlie was a completely new child.”
After changes to his wardrobe and his appearance, his confidence went through the roof.
“We are four months since he began his social transition now,” Ms Bourrel said.
“He is still a normal kid that does completely normal little kid things like play with Lego, uses his creativity and learns to ride his bike.”
Despite online haters who criticize her parenting choices, she said Charlie’s family and friends have been nothing but supportive of the preschooler.
“His choices were not questioned and he was congratulated and everyone began using new pronouns,” she said, adding it is no different to raising any other child and she appreciates the support from those in their inner circle.
“We are so lucky to have the circle that we do.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
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