Melissa Etheridge’s late son, Beckett, came out to her as straight as a preteen.
The singer told “Kelly Clarkson Show” viewers Wednesday about the moment, which took place when Beckett “was about 11.”
Smiling, the Grammy winner recalled, “He goes, ‘Mom, I’m sorry, but I think I’m straight.’”
Clarkson, 43, burst out laughing over the “incredible” story and quipped, “I’m so sorry I let you down.”
Etheridge, who came out publicly as gay in January 1993, joked that she “tried to tell [Beckett] it was a phase.”
Clarkson poked fun at the idea of Etheridge and her then-partner, Julie Cypher, “trying to pray the straight away.”
The anecdote came up as Clarkson praised Etheridge’s “Tomboy” song, in which she sings that there “ain’t nothing weak when little girls are strong.”
The 64-year-old wrote the lyrics to clap back at the stigma surrounding girls who like sports, Hot Wheels, etc. — but noted that kids’ toys aren’t “so much anymore” coded male or female.
Clarkson agreed, noting that while “it has changed a little,” her 9-year-old son, Remington, still “asks questions.”
“He was like, ‘Somebody told me I couldn’t paint my nails,’” she said. “And I was like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’”
The “American Idol” alum, who is also the mother of 11-year-old daughter River, gave a shoutout to “people like Harry Styles … who are out there owning whatever the hell they want to do.”
She added, “There still is that influence of what is boy, what is girl sometimes, and it’s annoying. Especially when you’re a parent, you’re like, ‘Just do whatever you like. It’s fine.’”
Etheridge agreed, saying, “The kids come in who they are anyway and just watching them find that is really [special].”
In addition to Beckett, who died in May 2020 at age 21 from an opioid addiction, she and Cypher are also the parents of 29-year-old daughter Bailey.
Additionally, Etheridge welcomed twins Johnnie and Miller, 19, before splitting from ex Tammy Lynn Michaels.
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