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.
“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,” Bourrel recalled, saying they didn’t think of anything until the end of 2021, when he didn’t want to shop in the girls section and wanted his hair cut short.
“He refused to shop in the girl’s section, but was too nervous to shop in the boys,” she said. “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 mom 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,” she said. “He is still a normal kid that does completely normal little kid things like play with Lego[s], uses his creativity and learns to ride his bike.”
Despite online haters who criticize her parenting choices, Bourrel 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,” she said.
