Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says she is her son's biggest fan. Rodrigo, who was born as Amanda, is transgender.

The Republican representative is the only member of Congress with a transgender son. On Nov. 17 for Transgender Awareness Week, she, her husband, Dexter Lehtinen, a former U.S. attorney, and Rodrigo had an interview with CBS 4 News Miami where the parents showed support for their 28-year-old son.

"We know Rigo as our child, whether it's Amanda or now as Rodrigo, he's our son and we're proud of him," she said according to Washingon Blade. "We're very happy that our son is happy with who he is. And that's a blessing to us."

The politician asked that parents of transgender children be proud of their kids like she and her husband is of Rigo. Ros-Lehtinen added that other parents should not freak out when their children open up to them, Yahoo! News reports.

"Stay calm and don't be afraid, and love your child because that person is your child whether it's the person you wanted him or her to be or not," she said. "That's my advice to parents. Never, never reject your child. That's unconditional love, no matter what."

Rodrigo talked about his journey of coming out to his parents. He first came out as lesbian in high school and then as transgender in college.

"Coming out as transgender is really about coming out as your authentic self, coming out as the person you always knew you were," Rodrigo told CBS. "But no one else may have known and now you're sharing that honesty with other people for the first time."

Ros-Lehtinen is the first Republican in Congress to publicly support same-sex marriage. She is also the only Republican on the 112-member Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

"I have full confidence that she would have come to these pro-LGBT opinions, whether I happen to be transgender or not," Rodrigo said.

Ros-Lehtinen was born in Cuba and is a former fellow of the National LGBTQ Task Force.

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