Kody Brown, the Patriarch of 'Sister Wives', “Does Not Support” Kid Leon’s Transition to Transgender

In the midst of all the turmoil and divorces of the Brown family, a new story shows tensions between Kody Brown, the family patriarch, and his son, Leon, who gave an update on his life in an Instagram post last summer. Leon shared in June 2022, "Someone recently told me that I didn’t have to have all of my s--- figured out in order for me to share myself with the world, so here’s me, definitely not having almost any of my s--- figured out, to let you know that I am trans. My name is Leon or Leo (i love both)."

The U.S. Sun recently reported that since the reality star's gender-affirming surgery, Leon's connection with their father, Kody, has completely dissolved. A source informed the outlet, "He does not support Leon's transition at all. He's actually disgusted by it, as terrible as that is. Kody is telling close friends, 'This is a new person. I don't know who this person is, but this is not the little girl that I raised'. They don't have a relationship anymore, and because of it, it has affected his relationship with Meri, 100 percent." Leon's mom and Kody's ex-wife Meri is "standing by" them. The source added, "Leon is her only child, and she wasn't going to disown them. She will pick Leon over Kody every day."

It was reported on August 11 by the fan website Without A Crystal Ball that Kody and Leon had stopped following each other on Instagram, albeit the precise date of their 'unfollow' is unclear. The blogger used the caption, "Kody Brown is following numerous accounts that are transphobic and regularly post hate-filled rhetoric about trans people. Kody & Robyn allegedly do not support Leon’s transition and are allegedly not accepting at all of the LGBTQ despite pretending they are on tv according to a source."

Gwendlyn Brown said in February this year, "Leon has given themselves space for their emotional health," which is why her brother remains distant from the family. She said, "Leon has been, since childhood, kind of the odd one out in the family because they had no siblings from their mom to really get along with, they just probably felt like the odd one out." Gwendlyn went on to say that the Mormon faith is "predominantly" practiced by her family, and they haven't "really traditionally been kind to queer people, especially with a family that's quite a bit conservative and partially against transsexuality in general..."

Leon quietly tied the knot about a year ago, but the happy couple hasn't made their union public. The U.S. Sun claimed to have exclusively received a copy of the marriage certificate that proves Leon (then known as Mariah) married their longtime lover Audrey Kriss on Saturday, October 29, 2022. They "self-solemnized," or became legally married without a third party (such as a minister or court) being involved. According to the source, Kody did not show up to the wedding because he was "very much estranged" from Leon, and Meri was in Disneyland.