Boy George, the lead singer of the eighties band Culture Club, is being accused of transphobia following tweets blasting those who adopt personal pronouns. “Leave your pronoun’s [sic] at the door!” he tweeted.
Leave your pronoun's at the door!
— Boy George (Boomer) (@BoyGeorge) January 6, 2020
George’s tweet was met with outrage by many, and Boy George responded to some of the criticism.
“Do you not know what the **** pronouns are?” asked one user, to which Boy George replied, “A modern form of attention-seeking?”
“What does it take to show others respect by using their preferred pronouns? I wouldn’t not use your name so why would I not use your preferred pronouns?” another user asked.
“Thanks for that but I have eyes and can mostly describe what I see!” Boy George responded.
Boy George responded to accusations of “transphobia” as well. “There’s nothing ‘phobic’ about Miss Boy George! Nish! Nada!”
The LGB Alliance, a gay rights group based in the UK that believes that “biological sex is observed at birth and not assigned,” and that “current gender ideologies are pseudo-scientific” defended the singer.
As lesbians, gays and bisexuals we applaud @BoyGeorge for saying what many people think and few say. At the #lgballiance we don’t “have” pronouns. Telling people “your pronouns” is telling them how they have to see you. https://t.co/8YudKbYa8a
— LGB Alliance (@AllianceLGB) January 7, 2020
Boy George’s management responded to the accusations of transphobia. “The concept of […] asking whether Boy George is transphobic is so stupid it doesn’t warrant a response.”
Over the following days, Boy George did seem to backtrack on his statements.
“I actually show great respect to people. Always have. I have also made mistakes,” he tweeted on Tuesday. On Thursday he tweeted, “I have more experience with sexual identity than almost anyone. […] I have fun on here but sadly some people take themselves and their physical form too seriously!” and “I should have said ‘Leave your pronouns at the door because you won’t need them in my house. I will worship you in all your difference.”
Despite seemingly backtracking on his remarks earlier in the week, he seemed to double down on them on Friday. “So many pronouns, so little time!” he tweeted.
So many pronouns, so little time!
— Boy George (Boomer) (@BoyGeorge) January 10, 2020
He also said, “I absolutely will, and always have addressed people how they desire to be addressed but will I stop talking about this ‘pronoun’ craze? Very unlikely! It’s in the air. It’s a buzz word and I’m an artist!”
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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