Lady Gaga slams abuse directed at Dylan Mulvaney: ‘This is not backlash. This is hatred’
Trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney has received a strong show of public support from Lady Gaga after the former was subjected to online abuse over a post marking International Women’s Day last week.
On Friday March 8, trans actress and influencer Mulvaney posted shots of herself and Gaga from a recent photoshoot for Haus Labs – Gaga’s own makeup brand – and captioned it with, “Happy International Women’s Day.”
Mulvaney, 27, subsequently received what Gaga described as “vitriol and hatred” for daring to post a photo celebrating International Women’s Day, with some commenting that Mulvaney should not be representing women because she is transgender, and many comments misgendered both Mulvaney and Gaga.
There have long been baseless conspiracy theories about Gaga being transgender due to her longstanding support of LGBTQ+ people.
On Monday (11 March), Gaga posted the same photo as Mulvaney onto her own Instagram with a lengthy caption showing a defiant display of support to the young star.
The “Rain On Me” singer wrote: “It’s appalling to me that a post about National Women’s Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred.
“But it is not surprising given the immense work that it’s obvious we still have to do as a society to make room for transgender lives to be cherished and upheld by all of us.
“I feel very protective in this moment, not only of Dylan, but of the trans community who continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence.”
She also derided the common use of the word “backlash” to refer to the “hatred” that Mulvaney has regularly been subjected to since a social media partnership with Bud Light last year sparked outcry from bigots.
“I feel it is important to clarify that hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence. This is not backlash. This is hatred,” stated Gaga.
Gaga noted that she does not speak for the trans community but wanted to express her desire for “all women” to “come together to honour us ALL for International Women’s Day” and continue to do so until “all women [and people] are celebrated equally”.
“May we all come together and be loving, accepting, warm, welcoming. May we all stand and honour the complexity and challenge of trans life—that we do not know, but can seek to understand and have compassion for,” she added.
Gaga has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ community for many years and has long been considered an icon to many LGBTQ+ people.
During a 2017 interview with Out Magazine, Gaga said: “When I started in the mainstream it was the gays that lifted me up. I committed myself to them and they committed themselves to me, and because of the gay community I’m where I am today.
“I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream. So I always sort of joke the real motivation is to just turn the world gay.”
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