Airyn De Niro, daughter of Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, opened up about starting hormone therapy and coming out as transgender in an interview published Tuesday.
De Niro, 29, spoke to Them, an LGBTQ magazine owned by Condé Nast, about feeling she was out of place. De Niro, whose mother is Toukie Smith, described herself as a "late bloomer" who failed to fit in with societal standards growing up.
"I was always told I was too much of something or not enough of something growing up: Too big, not skinny enough," she told the magazine. "Not Black enough, not white enough. Too feminine, not masculine enough. It was never just, ‘You’re just right, just the way you are.’”
She credited the stories of openly transgender women — including Laverne Cox and queer activist Marsha P. Johnson — with inspiring her to embrace her femininity last year.
"Trans women being honest and open, especially [in] public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success ... I’m like, you know what? Maybe it’s not too late for me,” she said.
She added that as she has embraced her gender identity, she has also been influenced by Black women and has been able to embrace her Black ancestry.
One of the first outward expressions of her gender identity, she said, was deciding to get dreadlocks after she saw Halle Bailey in the 2023 live-action film "The Little Mermaid."
Despite being the child of two actors, De Niro credited her parents for doing their best to shield her from the public eye throughout her childhood. Her father was also insistent that she forge her own career path, she said.
She expressed her gratitude for that upbringing while also saying she wants to be public now to give others someone to aspire to. And in a time when civil rights for transgender people are being targeted, she said she is studying to be a mental health counselor to aid the community.
"People of color and queer people definitely need more mental health advocacy and support," she said. "So I’m hoping I’m able to do that."
