Piers Morgan was left shocked on Good Morning Britain today after gender-neutral parent Ari Dennis branded him ‘childist’.
Piers and co-host Susanna Reid interviewed Ari, who identifies as non-binary, and he became embroiled in a heated discussion about Ari raising a child as a ‘theyby’.
Floridian Ari has toddler Sparrow and explained that the child will learn their gender as they grow up.
Ari also has eight-year-old Hazel, who is being raised in the same way.
Ari said during the video link interview: “All children at this age are developmentally unable to understand gender yet. It’s not that the child is non-binary. The child doesn’t have any gender yet. Obviously they have anatomy.”
But straight-talking Piers soon waded in with his view on the situation.
The dad-of-four said that, while he has no issue with Ari’s way of living life, he has a problem with it being imposed on the young children.
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He cut in: “Ari, I’m sorry to be the stick in the mud here. A two-year-old kid hasn’t got a scooby doo about this stuff. The idea that you as a parent would even countenance the idea that a two-year-old child has any ability to form any is utterly ridiculous and actually damaging to that child.”
As they continued to disagree, the 53-year-old broadcaster added: “A parents’ job is to also take responsible decision on behalf of their kids. To grow and nurture them.
“It seems you’re taking all responsibility from you as a parent and putting it on the heads of these tiny kids. It’s all down to them making these enormous life-changing decisions. I say that is an abdication of your parental responsiblities.”
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He ranted that he doesn’t agree with allowing a child to choose their name on a “whim” because they would come up with “nonsense”.
Ari responded with: “What you’re expressing is a bit of childism, which is assuming that someone has to be a legal adult to have the capacity to know themselves.”
A rather shocked-looking Piers then admitted he was “speechless” after Ari accused him of “childism”.
He later tweeted that it had been an “exasperating” morning.
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