Macy Gray appeared on Piers Morgan’s show on TalkTV and dropped a line that didn’t take long to spread across social media: “Just because you change your parts doesn’t make you a woman. I’m sorry”.
On Monday, July 4, 2022, the Grammy-winning singer, 54 according to Daily Wire, agreed with the host when he said he supports trans rights, but not people born with physically superior bodies competing against and crushing women in sports. “I totally agree”, she replied. When Morgan asked if she really felt that way, she answered: “I know that for a fact”. She added that if someone asks her to refer to them as “she”, she’ll do it, but that doesn’t make them a woman, and neither does surgery. According to That Grape Juice, she also backed J.K. Rowling.
The reaction was immediate: outlets like Rolling Stone and Refinery29 called her words transphobic, and critics called her a TERF. Gray replied on Twitter that “woman” is a title you earn and called a Rolling Stone article the most biased column ever written. She later shared a statement, saying her words had been “gravely misunderstood”, that she has “nothing but love” for the LGBTQ+ community, and that she doesn’t hate anyone.
