A 4-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.
Charlie Danger Lloyd of Canada was assigned female at birth — but from a young age expressed he was a boy, his mom said.
Now-viral footage and photos captured the moment young Charlie — with his grandmother by his side — released a confetti canon 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 mom Alaina Bourrel, 27, 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 mom said she has come under attack by vicious trolls online, calling her a “pedophile, groomer and rapist” for her son’s transition.
However, Bourrel said that her child started expressing different gender needs at the age of 2, telling his family he was “growing to look just like daddy” and “I’m a boy” all day every day.
The proud mom said the parade moment was dreamed up after they told Charlie the family held a previous gender reveal before he was born — and 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.
