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Read Article on : On June 20, 2015, at the New York City Gay Pride Parade, 8 year old Desmond Napoles danced and twirled for homosexuality wearing a rainbow tutu and gold sequined cap. The little kid has become a heartthrob in the LGBT community, even being praised by gay columnist, blogger and television personality Perez Hilton. “There were all kinds of lavish and extravagant costumes and people dancing in the street... but perhaps the most adorable and courageous dancing of them all was a little 8-year-old boy who came out for the event and strutted his stuff,“ said Hilton. “He captivated and won the hearts of anyone watching all while just being himself and feeling comfortable in his own skin; this boy and his courage to be himself really reminds us of what Pride is really about!“ When the mother, Wendylou Napoles, began receiving criticism for allowing her son to participate in a parade full of almost completely naked people, she “shut them down with grace and pride“ (as was stated by ). In her Facebook post, Napoles claimed that Desmond has been feminine since birth, “from day one,” and that he likes toys from trains to Barbies, prefers ballet to sports, and enjoys playing dress-up in skirts and dresses. “ … He has always been very gender fluid when it came to toys and his development. He preferred fashion dolls to action figures. I looked at both in the store and figured that the action figure was as much a doll as a Barbie, so if he wanted the one marketed to girls, that was fine with me. He also likes to play with trains, especially wooden subway trains. He never wanted to play sports and likes to draw pictures and do word searches. He goes to ballet class and loves to dance. He loves drag queens and thinks that it is fantastic that boys can play dress up and become beautiful girls, even after they grow up. He, himself, likes to play dress up in skirts and dresses, but most days he looks like any other “boy“. He is a shy boy who is self-conscious about his missing teeth when he smiles and very intelligent. He doesn't like school because he gets bullied, but he does well academically. We do our best to stop the bullying and involve the LGBT services at his school. We keep him involved in the LGBT community because we believe that by speaking to other people who were like him when they were his age reinforces that he is of value and that his life as he wants to live it is okay. This boy was always very feminine from day one and instead of denying it or condemning it, we embraced it. We did not need to encourage it, it was always there. He just needed the love and reassurance that he has a place in this world, as does any child. The development into the sparkle loving, happy, tutu-wearing boy in this photo was very natural and gradual and age appropriate. We spoke with doctors and therapists. Not because there was anything wrong with him, but because we wanted to understand and learn and do the right things for our child. We did not force him to be this way. We did not expose him to sexuality in the way some people project. He is 8 years old and is starting to get crushes on boys. That is pretty much the extent of what he knows about sexuality. I do my job as a parent and censor things in his life that may not be appropriate. I am not perverted and letting this boy dress up how he feels he wants to dress up is not perverted. It hurts no one. If you are offended, don't look. He is old enough and smart enough to know he would be marching in the Pride parade in front of thousands of people and did all of it willingly. In fact, I thought he would stop after 10 blocks of walking, but he felt so good about being dressed up and being who he is that he vogued and danced the entire two miles. We collaborated on the outfit and this is how he wanted to look today. This was his Pride today. He felt it. He loved it. He was it. These children will be our future. Embrace who they are. All they are asking for is the same love, respect, and acceptance of themselves as any child would.“ “If that's not the most perfect, loving, embracing response, we don't know what is!“ exclaimed Perez Hilton. “We couldn't be happier and prouder of what this little boy has done and the way his mother embraces him as any mother should!“ Napoles told Yahoo Parenting that she and her husband Andrew have been taking Desmond to the Gay Pride March since he was just 6 years old.
