After catching heat for her tweet in which she complained that women are being stripped of 'our name,' the 'Hocus Pocus' star now claims that her comment was not about trans women.
- Jul 6, 2022
AceShowbiz - Bette Midler is setting things straight after she came under fire over her recent tweet, which was deemed as anti-trans. Returning to Twitter on Tuesday, July 5, the actress denied that her comment was directed at trans women.
The 76-year-old claimed that her problematic tweet was actually a response to a New York Times article about the Roe v. Wade overturn. "PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! My tweet about women was a response to this fascinating and well written piece in the NYT on July 3rd. https://tinyurl.com/2p9dw2th," she wrote. "There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn't about that."
In the op-ed published last week titled "The Far Right and Far Left Agree on One Thing: Women Don't Count", author Pamela Paul writes that "the word 'women' has become verboten" as she criticizes the Supreme Court's decision that stripped off women's rights to have an abortion.
In her initial tweet, the "Hocus Pocus 2" star wrote, "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!"
While some fans believed that her tweet was meant to criticize the Roe v. Wade overturn and subsequent state abortion bans, other followers viewed it as transphobic.
It soon became a bigger story after Macy Gray also weighed in on trans issue during her appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored". "I will say this and everybody's gonna hate me but - as a woman - just because you go change your parts, it doesn't make you a woman, sorry," she said. "I know that for a fact. A woman is a human being with boobs. How about you start there? And have a vagina!"
"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 surgery," the Grammy Awards winner went on reasoning. "I don't think you should be called transphobic just because you don't agree."
"There is a lot of judgement and throwing stones at people for just saying what it is. Do you know what I mean? A woman goes through a completely unique experience and surgery and finding oneself doesn't change that," she added. "Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know? You can't have that just because you want to be a woman!"
Macy later claimed that her comments were "grossly misunderstood." Taking to her Twitter account, the 54-year-old singer insisted, "i got nothing but love for lgbt+ and transgender communities. i've been a supporter since day one and never a fake one. my statement on piers morgan was GROSSLY misunderstood. i respect everyone's right to be whoever they wana b."
