Megan Fox has some powerful messages to share recently—about the sexism she faces as a dating, single mom and also about the bullying her son faces because he likes to wear dresses. In her latest interview with InStyle, Fox opens up about co-parenting her three kids with her ex-husband, Brian Austin Green: Noah, 8, Bodhi, 7, and Journey, 4.

Fox and Green have previously shared that their son, Noah, prefers to wear whatever he wants to wear to school—including dresses. They’re both openly and wholly supportive of his decision to do so, but that doesn’t mean everyone is.

At one point during her interview, Fox grows emotional when discussing her kids. She says Noah has been targeted online by “mean, awful people and cruel people” simply because of what he likes to wear. The fact that anyone who chooses to pick on a child like this is truly heartbreaking, and Fox says she does her best to protect him from it.

“I don’t want him to ever have to read that s— because he hears it from little kids at his own school who are like, ‘Boys don’t wear dresses,'” she says.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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During an appearance on The Talk in 2019, Fox described the bullying her son faces from fellow classmates.

“Sometimes, he’ll dress himself and he likes to wear dresses sometimes,” she said at the time. “And I send him to a really liberal, hippy school, but even there—here in California—he still has little boys going, ‘Boys don’t wear dresses,’ or ‘Boys don’t wear pink.'”

She said she and Green try to teach him to be confident no matter what he’s wearing and no matter what anyone else thinks.

“He just wore one two days ago to school, and he came home and I was like, ‘How was it? Did any of the friends at school have anything to say?’ ” recalled Fox. “And he was like, ‘Well, all the boys laughed when I came in, but I don’t care, I love dresses too much.'”

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Kids should feel free to express themselves however they want to, and it’s amazing to see kids who are empowered to do so by their families. Being supportive of other people, especially children, costs us nothing—but it’s one of the most valuable investments we can make.