LGB Alliance hit with blistering backlash yet again after confronting brave Eddie Izzard over her pronouns
Eddie Izzard, comedian and political activist, visits Newport to campaign for the Labour Party on 4 December, 2019. (Getty/ Matthew Horwood)
Anti-trans lobby group LGB Alliance has received blistering backlash for claiming Eddie Izzard has “caused offence” by using she/ her pronouns.
Earlier this month, Izzard delighted fans after she bravely requested to be referred to with “she” and “her” pronouns, causing “collective gender euphoria” on LGBT+ Twitter.
But on Monday (28 December), anti-trans lobby group LGB Alliance decided to confront the comedian and activist about her pronouns.
LGB Alliance wrote on Twitter: “Hi Eddie Izzard, happy holidays! Some of those who’ve always admired you are feeling rather let down by your announcement. We feel sure you didn’t mean to cause offence.
“We’d like to invite you to discuss it on a Zoom call. Please get in touch.”
The anti-trans group did not make clear what purpose a Zoom call with Izzard would serve, or why their members felt “let down” and “offended” by her pronouns.
The confusing tweet was met with swift criticism, with one Twitter user writing: “Not a single trans person on this earth has to apologise to any of your Gender Calvinist hivemind for existing. Trans rights are human rights.”
https://twitter.com/VioletOlya/status/1343839786486919168
Another said: “What is wrong with you people? Eddie Izzard is an international treasure and she doesn’t owe you anything.
“Congrats Eddie, we love you. For what it’s worth, you were one of the first people I ever saw absolutely smashing gender norms and it gave me hope. Now even more so.”
What is wrong with you people? @eddieizzard is an international treasure and she doesn't owe you anything.
Congrats Eddie, we love you. 💖
For what it's worth, you were one of the first people I ever saw absolutely smashing gender norms and it gave me hope. Now even more so.
— jessica kant (@jessdkant) December 28, 2020
Labour MP and shadow minister for women and equalities Charlotte Nichols responded: “If you’re offended by other people’s choice of pronouns, given everything else that’s going on might I suggest getting some perspective?
“Solidarity with Eddie Izzard, who is free, as is everyone else, to define herself in whatever terms she deems fit.”
If you're offended by other people's choice of pronouns, given everything else that's going on might I suggest getting some perspective? Solidarity with Eddie Izzard, who is free, as is everyone else, to define herself in whatever terms she deems fit. pic.twitter.com/OJYyY0Zjxo— Charlotte Nichols (@charlotte2153) December 28, 2020
But LGB Alliance refused to back down, and bizarrely claimed that Izzard’s pronouns meant she would be demanding relationships with lesbians whether they liked it or not.
The group said: “Hi Charlotte. You undoubtedly have lesbians in your constituency. You represent them too.
“Eddie Izzard has been publicly pondering the possibility, in this new ‘gender identity’, of being able to date a lesbian. Are you able to appreciate that some lesbians find that offensive?”
Nichols described the group’s comments as “bullying, pure and simple”.
Izzard, 58, has previously said she is “a lesbian trapped in a man’s body” and “a complete boy plus half girl”, and has referred to herself as transgender since 2016, saying at the time: “I’ve got boy genetics and girl genetics.
“We get obsessed by it in humanity… If you look at a tiger, you go, ‘Ooh, tiger!’ We don’t go ‘girl tiger’ or ‘boy tiger’.
“We are obsessed by the genders because we grow up in one gender or another. No other animal is obsessed by our gender – they don’t give a monkeys about our gender.”
