Stephen Ira Beatty, 31, is an American writer, performer, and filmmaker by profession. He is the oldest child of legendary actor Warren Beatty and his actress wife Annette Bening.
Born Kathlyn Elizabeth Bening Beatty, Stephen started to transcend at the young age of 14. By 18, the star kid changed his name and underwent hormonal treatment, and officially became Stephen Ira Beatty. Similarly, Stephen identifies himself as a gay trans man and openly speaks for the rights of trans men.
In addition to his sexuality, what about his love life? Does Beatty have a boyfriend or is single? Here is everything about his professional and personal life.
How old is Stephen Ira Beatty? His Birth Name and College
He is 31 years old. Born on 8th January 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA to actor parents Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, Stephen’s birth name is Kathlyn Elizabeth Bening Beatty.
Filmmaker Stephen Ira Beatty was born Kathlyn Beatty in 1992Source: Instagram
Besides, Beatty is an American by nationality and has mixed ethnic descent. His grandparents are Iraowners Beatty and Kathlyn Corinne MacLean. Similarly, his maternal grandparents are Katherine Ashley and Arnett Grant Bening.
After completing his high school at The Buckley School, Stephen enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Stephen Has Three Siblings- They Are Also Actors & Writers
The 30-year-old was raised in Los Angeles alongside his three siblings Benjamin Beatty, 28, Isabel Beatty 25, and Ella Beatty, 22.
Just like him and his parents, his siblings are also making their way into the acting world. Benjamin graduated from Northwestern University back in 2017. He is known for UFO and Hail, Caeser!.
Likewise, Isabel is popular for her roles in Murder Tag, and Baggage. She also worked on the 2017 TV show Quality Sketch.
Not to forget, his youngest sibling Ella is known for All Sun and Little White Flowers. She recently graduated from The Julliard School.
Stephen Ira Beatty Came Out Of Closet In 2012
The rising artist came out of the closet at the age of 14. Likewise, he began his transition shortly after that in 2012.
After he openly accepted his sexuality, his actor parents, Warren and Annette were supportive of his decision. Although various online tabloids reported that Warren was furious with his son, this was later proved wrong when the family of six was spotted having a very good time together.
Beatty began transitioning at the age of 14Source: Instagram
Moreover, Bonnie and Clyde called his son a hero during an interview with Vanity Fair in 2016. He said,
“He’s a revolutionary, a genius, and my hero, as are all my children,”
Similarly, his four-time Oscar nominee mother also openly supported him during an interview in 2019 saying,
“He’s managed something that’s very challenging with great style and great intelligence. He’s an articulate, thoughtful person, and I’m very, very proud of him.”
Beatty Talks About His Personal Experience Regarding His Transition
Not to forget, Stephen also released a video for WeHappyTrans.com sharing a few of his personal details about his transition from a woman to a man. He was 20 years old at that time.
In the video, Beatty talks about his fondness for wearing rings, ribbons, and necklaces. Similarly, he revealed that he liked to present himself as a ‘fem’ and was under hormonal therapy.
Stephen Ira Beatty’s Feud With Singer Cher’s Trans Son Chaz Bono
Back in 2011, Ira had a heated keyword war with none other than Goddess of Pop Cher’s son Chaz Bono. The feud began when Stephen expressed his opinions about how Chaz addressed his female-to-male transition in the media.
As per Beatty, Bono claimed to be trans was ‘a birth defect, like a cleft palate’, and ‘being a male and having breasts’ was one of the worst things he could have imagined.
After Bono talked about his opinions, Ira called him a misogynist saying he doesn’t represent the trans community. As per New York Times, Chaz said,
“There’s gender in your brain and a gender in your body. For 99 percent of people, those things are in alignment. For transgender people, they’re mismatched. That’s all it is. It’s not complicated, it’s not a neurosis but a mix-up. It’s a BIRTH DEFECT, like a cleft palate.”
The Rising Star Stephen Ira Beatty Is A Writer & Filmmaker By Profession
As mentioned above, Beatty is a poet, critic, performer, and filmmaker by profession and often shares his poems on his respective social media platforms.
He began his poetry journey while attending Sarah Lawrence College back in 2012. So far, his poems have appeared in venues like Poetry, tagvverk, DIAGRAM, and Fence.
Similarly, in 2019, Stephen received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop for his poetry. Moreover, while he worked as a poetry editor at Strange Horizons magazine, his piece was nominated for Hugo Award.
In addition, Stephen collaborated with Chris Berntsen for a short movie titled “I have to think of us as separate people”. It was screened worldwide in several events including New Orleans Film Festival, NewFest, and OutFest.
Moreover, Beatty co-founded a magazine of trans poetry and poetics called Vetch.
How Rich Is Stephen Ira Beatty In 2022?
According to various sources, Beatty owns an estimated net worth of $1 million in 2022. Similarly, his successful actor parents, Warren and Annette have a combined net worth of $70 million as of now.
His parents currently live at a mansion in LA which sits on a 6.7 acre of land. Previously, they owned 6 bedrooms & 8 bathrooms 10,600 square feet mansion in Los Angeles. The house was listed in the market for $6.955 million in 2012.
Is Stephen Ira Beatty Dating Anyone in 2023?
The writer is reportedly dating his boyfriend Chris Berntsen, a photographer as of 2022. The pair sparked dating rumors after Chris posted a picture of them kissing on the lips on his IG handle back in February. However, Ira has not addressed the rumors yet.
Stephen and Chris kissing each other giving major relationship hintsSource: Instagram
Before Chris, Beatty was allegedly dating fellow Sarah Lawrence College alumn, Liam O’Brien. The duo first met back in 2016 and became IG official the same year.
O’Brien is also one of the founding editors of Vetch. Not to forget, he has taught writing and literature to undergraduates at the Univerity of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College.
Looking through Stephens’s profile, the trio- Beatty, Chris, and O’Brien seem to be living together as they often share somewhat intimate pictures of one another on their respective social media handles.
Back in 2012, the filmmaker had tweeted about his boyfriend handmaking his socks, though the boyfriend’s identity was never revealed.
