Lady Gaga never denied transgender rumours in her early career so trans kids ‘wouldn’t feel shame’
Lady Gaga has spoken about why she never denied the transgender rumours aimed at her during the start of her career, explaining that she didn’t want trans kids to “feel shame”.
The “Born This Way” singer recently appeared in the second episode of What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, where she addressed the 2011 rumours that claimed she was trans. The rumours came to a head in a CNN interview with the star that year.
The 60 Minutes presenter Anderson Cooper asked at the time: “There was a rumour that you had a male appendage, that you were a hermaphrodite and you joked about it on the stage last night… A lot of artists would immediately put out some sort of statement saying, ‘This is absolutely not true’. You have fun with it.”
To this, Gaga responded: “Maybe I do, would it be so terrible? Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don’t care, and neither do I.”
Now, 13 years on from the initial rumours, the Joker: Folie à Deux star said about her early career: “I went all over the world. I travelled for tours and for promoting my records and in almost every interview I sat in they said … there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored … they’d say, ‘There’s rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’
“The reason why I didn’t answer the question is because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: ‘What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?'”
She added: “I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumour was not in the best interest of the well-being of other people. In that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point.”
Gaga has long been a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly a staunch advocate of trans rights. Earlier this year, the singer-songwriter met with content creator Dylan Mulvaney and slammed the abuse directed at the trans star.
She told fans at the time that she feels “very protective” 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”.
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