Singer Macy Gray is facing the heavy hand of cancel culture after making comments about trans “women” that some consider controversial and a bit too far.
Lifestyle :
During an appearance Monday on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Grammy-winning “I Try” singer-songwriter Macy Gray was discussing her thoughts on what it means to be a woman. She talked about the “confusing” state of gender identity and referenced “the whole he, she, they” pronoun usage. She also made clear that although she supports trans rights for “fairness and equality,” she believes trans women “born to obvious superior physical bodies” should be prohibited from competing against cis women in sports.
So far, so good.
At that point, Macy Gray then segued into something that set the trans world on fire.
“I will say this and everybody’s going to hate me, but, as a woman, just because you go change your parts, doesn’t make you a woman. Sorry.”
She continued: “If you want me to call you a her, I will because that’s what you want — but that doesn’t make you a woman just because I call you a her and just because you got a surgery.”
Almost immediately, all hell broke loose among the LGBTQIA+ community and Gray began receiving threats.
“On July 4, a day when selective freedom was celebrated in America, it was only fitting that Macy Gray chose to go on known bigot Piers Morgan’s show Uncensored and reveal herself as a transphobe on national television. After all, trans women in the US are still fighting for their rights and for the freedom ‘Independence Day’ claims all Americans are granted,” Wisdom Iheanyichukwu of Yahoo! News said in the article SAY GOODBYE TO MACY GRAY — SHE OUTED HERSELF AS A TERF.
“The womanhood of Black women is constantly called into question and Black trans women are dying because of this ignorance. It’s frustrating to see the singer engage in the same violent rhetoric that upholds gender discrimination and marginalizes all Black women — including our trans sisters,” the author continued.
If that wasn’t enough, Twitter went into overdrive with a plethora of foul criticisms — mostly from gay and trans commenters.
Fuck Bette Midler.
— Sarah J. Star (@StarscapeBBS) July 5, 2022
Fuck Macy Gray.
Fuck Ricky Gervais.
Fuck JK Rowling.
Trans women are women.
Trans men are men.
Non-binary people exist.
Cis women aren’t being erased simply because transgender men and non-binary folks are being included in the demand for abortion rights.
However, did the singer really make remarks that were anti-trans? Or, were they actually pro-woman?
It appears Macy Gray was saying being a woman is more than just having breasts and a vagina — and that it takes much more to be a woman than purchasing body parts.
Women are warriors. They go through monthly menstrual cycles. They (many of them) experience the pain of childbirth. They suffer through the effects of menopause. Surely, a person who was born male but transitioned to female can respect that they will never know the full experience of womanhood simply because they chose to alter their body and designate themselves female.
So, did Macy Gray negatively single out trans women and denigrate the entire trans community?
Further, if her comments were truly in the wrong and a person who was born male should be accepted as a complete woman once they’ve surgically transitioned, then how does that theory apply to other groups?
For example, former NAACP president Rachel Dolezal was vilified for living her life as a Black woman after it was discovered that she was, in fact, born White.
In Japan, Toko-San was blasted as a lunatic after spending a boatload of cash to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a dog.
If society can demand that we respect a male for transitioning to a female because that is how they feel on the inside, then how do we not respect Rachel Dolezal for “transitioning” to Black or Toko-San for “transitioning” to life as a dog because that is also how they feel on the inside?
Although the question is rhetorical, the answer is a clear double-standard.
“I wasn’t defining trans women. Just women. Because I know what it means to be one. I don’t know what it means to be a trans woman and I never said I did. But that goes both ways,” Gray explained on social media in an attempt to salvage her reputation for daring to speak her truth.
She added that she wants people to know that her “completely unique experience” of growing up as a young woman cannot be obtained through surgery.
“Surgery or finding yourself doesn’t change that. Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know? And you can’t have that just because you want to be a woman,” Gray said.
— Macy Gray (@MacyGraysLife) July 6, 2022
The reality here is that we really can’t have it both ways. We can’t cheer males for transitioning to being female, but jeer a White woman for transitioning to being Black. We either have to accept EVERYBODY — including males becoming females, White women becoming Black women, and even humans becoming dogs — or, we have to accept NOBODY and stick with the theory that no one can “purchase” themselves into someone/something they’re not solely because that’s how they feel.
No more double standards!!
WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us “women” anymore; they call us “birthing people” or “menstruators”, and even “people with vaginas”! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) July 4, 2022
OK WASSUP! discusses Lifestyle News:
Macy Gray ‘canceled’ over trans comments.
I’m no fan of Macy Gray. But on this I absolutely agree! She spoke the Truth and I hope she has the courage to stand her ground and NOT back down.
Yes, I’m a gay Black female. But I’m a woman….a Black woman First, before I’m anything else.
I do not now, nor have I ever, aligned myself with the LGBTQIA+ community because, in my opinion, members of that community are mostly damaged people inside seeking attention and looking for love and healing in ALL the wrong places!
Over the past 15 years, I think that community has taken their madness to a whole other level. And all the Pretense (especially surgeries) in the world won’t change the fact they’re still mostly just damaged people inside.