Jamie Lee Curtis slams anti-trans legislation in birthday message to her trans daughter

Actor Jamie Lee Curtis wished her trans daughter a happy birthday and sent a strong message on the protection of constitutional rights in the wake of anti-trans laws being passed in America. Jamie Lee Curtis, known for her role in the "Halloween" series and "Freaky Friday" sent wishes to her daughter Ruby Guest before rallying to support other families with trans kids. This comes at a time when Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed the state's Department of Family and Protective Services to label gender-affirming care of a minor as child abuse. Parents who support their kids will be subject to DFPS investigation and potentially charged with child abuse.

Ruby came out as transgender to her parents in 2020 and her parents Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest supported her transition. On March 13, Ruby's birthday, Curtis posted a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt with a fist in the colors of the trans flag. She raised her fist in solidarity and posed doing an acrobatic kick as well. “I am proud and grateful to be the parent of a trans child and am sending support to all of the trans families across the US who are being targeted in this moment by conservative legislatures,” she wrote. 

She took a potshot at right-wing activists and politicians who were attacking the freedom of trans kids and their families. "This country was founded on freedom. A profoundly simple idea that everyone living here should be free to dream and achieve what they want freely," she wrote. "OUR declaration of independence promises that we are endowed with certain unalienable rights including Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.....AND that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to defy it to ensure Safety and Happiness. A profound idea. Safety and Happiness!"

She addressed the Texas law that seeks to criminalize parents providing gender-affirming care to trans kids. "Now politicians are proposing that parents providing gender-affirming care for THEIR OWN children are felons and deserve prison time. These laws are discriminatory, unjust, and anti-American. Freedom of expression includes gender expression!" she wrote. "As a proud parent of my trans daughter, I VOW to use my freedom of speech and my right to vote to SUPPORT my child and ALL children trying to live FREELY as who they are. #ProtectTransKids"

Ruby and Curtis opened up about the former's transition to PEOPLE last year. "It was scary — just the sheer fact of telling them something about me they didn’t know,” said Ruby. “It was intimidating — but I wasn’t worried. They had been so accepting of me my entire life.” Curtis said she wanted to help Ruby and make her as comfortable as she can. “It’s speaking a new language,” said Curtis. "It’s learning new terminology and words. I am new at it. I am not someone who is pretending to know much about it. And I’m going to blow it, I’m going to make mistakes. I would like to try to avoid making big mistakes."

Curtis said the idea of sharing Ruby's journey was to give courage to those who were working towards embracing their true self. "If one person reads this, sees a picture of Ruby and me and says, ‘I feel free to say this is who I am,’ then it’s worth it,” said Curtis. Ruby shared a similar sentiment. "Me coming out has nothing to do with my mom being famous," she said. "I’ve tried to stay out of the spotlight for many years, or at least done my best to. I’m happy to be more visible if it helps others."